Presently I heard Pilot bark far below, out of his distant kennel in the courtyard: hope revived. Nor was it unwarranted: in five minutes more the grating key, the yielding lock, warned me my watch was relieved. It could not have lasted more than two hours: many a week has seemed shorter. Mr. Rochester entered, … Read more
My English grammar book (“English Grammar” by David Daniels and Barbara Daniels) describes the past perfect as follows: The past perfect describes an event in the past and shows that it was still relevant at a later time. The given example is the following one: Mario had already arrived home when his mother walked in. … Read more
My friend asked me about a person I never met in my life. Should I say “I have never met him in my life.” or “I never met him in my life.”? Answer In this case, the past and the present perfect express basically the same thing, so semantically it doesn’t really matter which you … Read more
My friend asked me, “Have you ever paid the money as a penalty?” I paid some money as a penalty, but that was long ago; it won’t effect the present. What should I say? I have paid. I had paid. I paid. Answer Let’s make up some details, so the difference between these sentences will … Read more
In my English classes, I was taught that never should not be used with past forms, only with present perfect forms; this is also what I read in a grammar book I bought some years ago. (I bought the book in the USA; I guess the book is about American English grammar, but I don’t … Read more
You got there? You got Hermione’s owl? We must have crossed in midair. No sooner had I reached London than it became clear to me that the place I should be was the one I had just left. I arrived just in time to pull Quirrell off you. It was you [that cried, “Harry! Harry,” … Read more
