By Simple past, Dates

Hi Anon, Aside from Clive's explanation, may I offer you this scenario.Picture this: It’s Saturday. You got up at 6 am this morning (completed simple past act)and it’s now 8 o’clock. You have been up for 2 hours studying for a test on Monday. (this condition still holds true at this time) ...

Hello, Hoa Thai. As always, it's been interesting to read through your post! «The issue we have been dealing with here boils down to one question – “In one sentence, grammatically and semantically, could we use both simple past and present perfect for one item?”» I wouldn't say so,...

Dear all, For whatever its worth – Here is my opinion as I promised to deliver: The issue we have been dealing with here boils down to one question – “In one sentence, grammatically and semantically, could we use both simple past and present perfect for one item?” Evidently, the...

Hoa Thai wrote: Dear all, First, I would like to thank you in advance for reading this rather lengthy post of mine. I do need to lay out my thinking and reasoning as wide as I can so you can best help me to untangle my own confusion...

Amy, Thank you for taking the time for the detailed explanation. I understand and in principle agree with almost everything you said. However, there is still some kind of glitch in our thoughts interpreting that particular sentence. Either my head is so thick that the signals from you can not...

Lin1978 wrote:Thank you, Master Yankee. Your answer is quite clear. But I still have one small question. Last time my teacher told me that, "if I have two different subjects in a main clause and in a conditional, and I want to use the participle phrase, I have to keep both two subjects or change...

All Malaysians feel proud. ( when using a simple past, it is better to specify a date OR simply put simple present ) They were proud of Malaysia. ( there is not wrong to use ' for ' but using ' of ' is much better ) They feel proud because they were Malaysians. ( were or feel is a preference...

Yankee wrote:Hi TamI certainly did not intend my comment as a comparison of formal written UK English and informal US spoken English. I have to say I find it insulting that you think I would even consider making such a comparison. My comment was based on my own experience with British...

Hi Bokeh, Becasue of your reply, it made me take a second look at the original question. I also did some research and found this paper written on the subject of Semantic Composition of Subjunctive Conditionals by Michela Ippolito of MIT/Tübingen University. I am not completely sure if I...

"On 15 February 1989, the Soviet Union announced that all its troops had left Afghanistan."As I see it, there is another reason for using the past perfect in this sentence: The date of the past announcement is specifically stated. The past perfect puts the time the troops left further in the...