Oxford Modern English Grammar underscores the relevance of the action/state in the present perfect to the present point of reference (the moment when you speak of it), which I take as that that action/state is still relevant/important and/or still has effects / impacts / desired/expected (be it implicit or explicit) results on the very current … Read more
Which is correct: Scarcely did she put down the phone when it rang again. Scarcely had she put down the phone when it rang again. My own take is that both are correct, but that “had she” indicates a connection between the phone ringing and the fact that it was put down. My “adversary” believes … Read more
And the hatred for Tammany that had been ignited by his idealism was fueled by the wreckage the Tiger had made of his ambitions. Why passive form of simple past is being used in the middle of the sentence (was fueled)? Would “had been fueled” be correct? Answer Let’s simplify things by translating into the … Read more
Let’s say that I have a computer program that had been doing one thing, but later that program was changed. Which statement would be more correct? It was sorting by errors, but now it’s sorting by warnings. or It sorted by errors, but now it sorts by warnings. And what if didn’t have that second … Read more
Going straight to the point, let’s say that I have a sentence like He asked when the train arrived. How can I tell whether this is a Past Simple (As soon as the train arrived he asked) or Reported Speech (He: "When does the train arrive?"). Is there a way to distinguish between them? Or … Read more
I would like to ask if the following sentences have different meanings. lately I’ve been overthinking about tenses which I’ve been using fluently my whole life. Specifically present perfect Context: Say I was talking to a friend about what happened this month. It was a pretty boring month, so I just tell him about something … Read more
They came, four by four, down the vast hall between double rows of columns. The drum beat dully. No voice spoke, no eye watched. Torches carried by black-clad girls burned reddish in the shafts of sunlight, brighter in the dusk between. Outside, on the steps of the Hall of the Throne, the men stood , … Read more
Let’s say that we are in a 2-round tech-competition for which we have already entered the selected list of the first round and waiting to see the results for the 2nd round. Here I want to put the emphasis on the fact that our work was good enough to have the above result. I want … Read more
I want to create a short and simple error message. But were confused with the usage of past-tense "cause" Which one is correct? Unexpected condition caused error or Unexpected condition cause error Answer The first one would be correct. "An unexpected condition caused an error". You could use the other form however that one would … Read more
I cannot understand these. 1st We didn’t win our first four games, but now we are second in the league. (o) We haven’t win our first four games, but now we are second in the league. (x) 2nd For the last half hour I have been watching some dolphins near the boat, and I feel … Read more
