So far, they ---- enough tombs ---- at any clear understanding of the rituals and lives of these ancient people.
A) had not excavated / to arrive
B) have not excavated / to have arrived
C) could not have excavated / having arrived
D) would not excavate / arriving
E) are not excavating / to have arrived
I am stuck between A and B. Can you clarify the point?
A) had not excavated / to arrive
B) have not excavated / to have arrived
C) could not have excavated / having arrived
D) would not excavate / arriving
E) are not excavating / to have arrived
I am stuck between A and B. Can you clarify the point?
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Comments
The present perfect tense (have + past participle) is correct with "so far", but not the past perfect tense (had + past participle).
CJ
She gave us a brief résumé of the project so far.
He told us to disregard everything we'd learned so far and start again.
MrP
Hmmm. It sounded a bit strange to me in that example sentence.
I don't think it's an American thing either.
In the "resume of the project" example, I'm also a bit queasy unless the utterance is made very soon after the giving of the resume.
Three months ago she gave us a resume of the project so far.
doesn't seem right to me. It sounds impossible unless she was clairvoyant.
Well, maybe it is an American thing; maybe it's a CJ thing!
CJ
I remember once I had qualms about the use of "yet" in a past context, though everyone else thought it was fine. Maybe "past-context-so far-tolerance" also varies from speaker to speaker!
MrP