By Verbs, Simple past

Re: Please suggest!

Just to summarize:had arrested = past perfect form of the verb 'arrest' had to = simple past form of 'have to' Although it is more common to say 'the police', the word 'police' is also sometime used without the definite article ('the') -- especially in...

Re: hang, hanged/hung, hanged/hung

Hi N2g, sorry, I had a long interruption. I haven't been able to find any confirming references (1) that "hanged" is the required simple past and past participle in execution by hanging, or (2) that "hanged" would be the recommended past in cases of unlawful hanging, such...

Re: correct choice of words

Thanks, Creatveguru I always see "From then on" followed by a simple past tense verb. E.g. From then on, he vowed never to gamble again. So I would like a native to confirm.

Re: Please, help me with this question

The difference is subtle. The present perfect is conceptually a step removed from the real action of the simple past. The present perfect is indirect compared to the direct simple past.I read a magazine today expresses what happened. It tells what I did directly. I have read a magazine today...

Re: coordination: counterpart?

Hi, I'm wondering if there's a grammatic or syntactic term ( or just speech part?!) named for the part "feed" (as opposed to "fly") in the sentence below? Counterpart? phrasal verb? Or is it just simply two sentences connected by "and" with the second...

Re: Please,help me with my questions

Hi Sonya, 1) "Something worth little or nothing". Here shouldn't the sentence be: "Something worths little or nothing" ? Not sure if this is a complete context. It looks strange to me! This is worth every penny! But there is no verb in your questioned “sentence”. 2)...

Please,help me with my questions

Hi there! Please, I need a help. My questions are: 1) "Something worth little or nothing". Here shouldn't the sentence be: "Something worths little or nothing" ? 2) "Water pollution is caused by run-off from factories". Does run-off a synonymous for...

Re: Please check this paragraph for me

This is a good paragraph and the tenses of your verbs are consistent. The only sentence that has a problem is, "We had worked together...and have always had good relationships...even after I have left... That first verb, had worked, is past perfect tense. The rest of the paragraph is...

Re: the correct tense

Hi In my examples I'm trying to say that even if some people paid the contributions for a shorter period of time (in the past), then today it will not result in decreased pension benefits, so I think that the present simple in this case is OK, even though the earlier verbs were in the...

past perfect?

"It had been a long time since I last ate." This is past perfect right? Is 'a long time' modifying 'been'? What's the grammatical term for that? Edit: also kindly tell me if it is how you usually say it.. Normally in a past perfect sentence the 'activity'...