Hello, all I have met structures like: a) They slowly began to descend. b) They began to slowly descend. And they made me wondering about the reason behind the position of the adverb. Is it a difference between Am.E and Br.E, a difference in the

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Had either of you also considered the possibility that the past perfect in these cases is actually not focused on time relationships but on envisioned worlds, and is therefore -- dare I say it -- a subjunctive tense? It's interesting, but I

Well, now everything is (or seems) clear to me. Thank you very much, Mr. Wordy and CalifJim, for helping so kindly :) Anton

Thank you for the reply, Mr Wordy. I'm talking to you (in the present) and I say "I had thought that..." Here I may not have a very specific idea of which intermediate time "had thought" came before. That's how I

I don't know if this helps, but it occurred to me that in my present-tense usage of "I had thought", "It had seemed" and similar expressions, the intermediate time (Anton's "first gear") doesn't have to be

can you explain to us your viwepoint? Probably not! All I can say is that the past perfect didn't bother me when I read what you wrote. (By the way, I think the simple past is just fine as well.) )) Yeah, that's what (and how) my intuition

but my question is when you ask something in which "choosing" is the option, Do I use which or what? Ex. Which dress will you buy for the wedding?  or What dress will you buy for the wedding? Again, the same general rule applies. If one

Here's the general rule. When choosing form a number of alternatives known beforehand, use "which". Ex.: Which way should I go, east or north? When querying about an item from an unknown "domain", use "what". Ex.:

However, CJ's reply makes me wonder if I'm missing something. Deat CJ, can you explain to us your viwepoint? Anton