By Past perfect, Expressions

Hello. Sorry to hear you're feeling uncomfortable with this type of activity. But you're not alone: I would be, too!The sentences lack context, which makes it difficult to tell when tense changes are necessary and when they are not (among other things).There is one sentence that is wrong...

Hi FandorinYou seem to be mixing things up.Angliholic's sentence is not an example of the idiomatic "to have got", which means basically the same thing as "to have" or "to possess".In that idiom, it is not possible to change the word 'got' to...

FYI. I have heard the expression 'professional deformation' in English. CJ

A "professional deformation"? You have such a way with words, Kooyeen! I'd never thought of anything about myself as being deformed before. I suspect the English equivalent of your Italian expression might be "occupational hazard".

"The Change of the Characteristics in the passage from The Hours" The passage from the novel The Hours by Michael Cunningham is intriguing. The passage illustrates the difference between the character's characteristics in different time settings: past and present. This difference is...

I agree that this might not be the most typical example for the usage of these two tenses, however to me the past perfect continuous does something in this sentence that neither the past continuous nor the past perfect simple can do: It suggests duration and also that, although the car-washing...

Let's spread out the issue a little bit: ____ O ____ Type 2. Basic forms. a. If we caught the 10 o'clock train, we would (could, might, etc.) get there by lunch-time. b. If I came into a fortune, I would give up smoking. c. If I knew how it worked, I could tell...

Hi TomThe the past perfect is frequently not used in reported speech and many grammar books also accept this. The past perfect continuous is probably used even more rarely. Here are my thoughts:First of all, Pucca is right about using 'watching' rather than 'seeing'.Second, we need to know what...

I would correct flopped to failed. I haven't prepared covers the period up to the present. It says that the state you are in at this present moment is an unprepared state. But I failed happened in the past. That's why is a claim of causality. You can't have a present cause (being...

The expression by the time often takes the appropriate perfect tense, though it doesn't have to. The time sequence is not always relevant. (before also has this property.) I think it will probably start to rain , the theatre was already closed. CJ See also Post:281427