Clivebecause the reference is to a time before a point in the past, not to a time before now.
I don't exactly understand what you mean by that. Would you mind explaining it further?
Hi again,
When Gregory arrived at the disco, Hania had already left/has already left.
Which one is correct? 'Had already left', because the reference is to a time before a point in the past, not to a time before now.
Consider this scenario. For clarity, I'll talk about just dates, not times of day.
Gregory arrived at the disco on 5/July.
The writer wrote the above sentence on 10/July.
If the writer wrote Hania has already left, the tense would make me think that Hania left sometime in the past up until 10/July. eg Maybe Hania left on 3/July, maybe on 9/July.
If the writer wrote Hania had already left, the tense would make me think Hania left sometime in the past up until 5/July. eg maybe on 3/July.
5/July is the point in the past that I spoke of in my original comment.
Best wishes, Clive
Dusklight When Gregory arrived at the disco, Hania had already left/has already left. Which one is correct?
I'd use has as a singular , because if it was like children instead of Hannia it would be correct to say had , for children
When Gregory arrived at the disco, Hania had already left/has already left.
Which one is correct? 'Had already left', because the reference is to a time before a point in the past, not to a time before now.
Consider this scenario. For clarity, I'll talk about just dates, not times of day.
Gregory arrived at the disco on 5/July.
The writer wrote the above sentence on 10/July.
If the writer wrote Hania has already left, the tense would make me think that Hania left sometime in the past up until 10/July. eg Maybe Hania left on 3/July, maybe on 9/July.
If the writer wrote Hania had already left, the tense would make me think Hania left sometime in the past up until 5/July. eg maybe on 3/July.
5/July is the point in the past that I spoke of in my original comment.
Best wishes, Clive
I'd use has as a singular , because if it was like children instead of Hannia it would be correct to say had , for children
Sorry, this doen't make sense.
Clive