„Boxer Joe Foster had fought over 100 opponents when he retired in 1994.” Why someone used Past Perfect in this senence? Answer The answer is simple and was given in the comment. Fighting 100 opponents came before the 1994 retirement (we are in 2019 now). He had done that before he retired. That’s what the … Read more
Why is ‘in’ used before was/were in this sentence from the book Shoe Dog by Phil Knight? Some Tuesday nights in the Reserves were set aside for classroom time. It seems like a mistake. Would dropping the in make the sentence ungrammatical? It seems like “Some Tuesday nights the Reserves were set aside for classroom … Read more
It says that we use present perfect for actions in the past that have a result now. No matter how much I try to figure out this, sometimes it is pretty hard. I have also read the followings as well, but it seems like that I can’t grab this correctly. (Even when I write this, … Read more
“He could not afford to be out of the public eye; it ____ the death of his political career“. The answer for this is either “would mean” or “would have meant” can be used. But I’m quite confused because “would have meant” meaning here is not clear. Can anybody explain this to me? Answer In … Read more
I read this in a book and it threw me a little bit. Should it not be “It was I who was being romantic about tradition” as it’s talking about the past? Answer The person who was being romantic was me. But the identity of the person has not changed. It still is me and … Read more
“The fine particles of grief which would flow out from the people he sat and listened to and helplessly tried to comfort, seeped inside him and there they had continued to envelop his heart, letting less inside or get outside with each layer that formed on top.” I would like to know if the tenses … Read more
These examples from wikipedia are shown as tests to find what is telic, or atelic. Fine: “John built a house in a month.” Bad: *”John built a house for a month.” → built a house is telic Bad: *”John built houses in a month.” Fine: “John built houses for a month.” I’m wondering if there … Read more
Is the sentence “While i was traveling i had seen beautiful buildings.” ungrammatical? I think this sentence is grammatical using past perfect to describe multiple events in past but the answer says ‘while i was traveling I saw beautiful buildings’ is correct. Why the sentence ‘while i was traveling i had seen beautiful buildings’ is … Read more
There is a exercise to practice some usages. Q. I asked Sue what happened, but she doesn’t tell / won’t tell me A. won’t tell I can’t understand it. I chose another one, but I don’t think that is right. the situation is about past, so I think ‘didn’t’ is right. I believe ‘will’ is … Read more
One way to talk about the actions that one commonly did in the past is using the modal “would”. Now if I do not want to use it, how I can say my story. For example, When I was a lecturer, I go to the class every Tuesday, first give the new material and then … Read more
