Hi, YSchneider . I am not a native speaker and this is indeed a tough grammar point for non-native speakers. Here is an extract from CGEL*: Did you lock the front door? in a domestic situation where it is known that the front door is locked at

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

Liat, Let's not "muddy" up the water on present perfect by starting another debate on "Mr." vs. "Mr". Event the experts have varying opinions. I understand that you have probably an image that my English is not quite native, which is ok. I take

Ant_222 wrote: ...your explanation through active and passive attributes. I don't know why you need this classification. Maybe it's correct, but I don't like it. Hi, Ant_222. It is not "active and passive attributes," but "active and

Paco2004 wrote: If the sultan had been more powerful and pro-British, the government would have been forced by Nov, 1914 to acknowledge that its policy failed. I think I would still use "had failed" here; but a stative verb in the simple

Hello Tallulah and Clive Thank you for the clear answers. I was wrong to think "a period ago" couldn't go with the simple past tense of stative verbs. Many people use sentences like "I stayed/live there several years ago". So, now I understand "I

Hi Paco, Here are some comments. (1) ( x ) I knew her five years ago. This is wrong. "Five years ago" is a point-time adverbial and so it can't go with a stative verb "know". It sounds OK to me. My understanding is that you have lost contact with

Hello guys I come to feel I have misunderstood the usage of "know". I thought previously "know someone" could be a dynamic verb to mean "get acquainted with someone", but now I understand "know someone" can be only a stative verb to mean "be

Hi Jim, I'm very pleased to know I got it right about "could" and "would"; what about my introduction. Am I right when I say: Hi Jim, thanks for your reply. Please, tell me if I got it rightI can use the simple past (which is actually a past

Hi Jim, thanks for your reply. Please, tell me if I got it right :s I can use the simple past (which is actually a past subjunctive) only with verbs with an imperfective aspect ( love, live, have, be), that is stative verbs or verbs which express