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 #2 (permalink) Sun Sep 30, 2007 18:20 pm Expression: "She told me she had come here many years ago." |
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| Quote: |
| She told me she had come here many years before |
this calls for something after the word "before". Before what? |
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Lost_Soul
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Location: South Park, Colorado, USA
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| #3 (permalink) Mon Oct 01, 2007 10:22 am Expression: "She told me she had come here many years ago." |
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Both are fine.
adverb: earlier in time; previously (Example: "I had known her before")
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 Mister Micawber
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| #4 (permalink) Mon Oct 01, 2007 14:32 pm Expression: "She told me she had come here many years ago." |
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Yep however there's a little difference between the two:
ago: counting back from now
before: counting back from now or PAST
<cf>:
I went to the States many years ago.
I went to the States before.
I told her I had gone to the States before. |
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Edison_Chen_e_c
I'm here quite often ;-)
Joined: 23 Jul 2007
Posts: 206
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| #5 (permalink) Thu Oct 04, 2007 2:21 am Expression: "She told me she had come here many years ago." |
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Doesn't this seem to be thing that happened in the past or not?
I would prefer:
She told me she came here many years ago.
I also have heard some sentences as follows too,
1. They arrived a while back.
2. They arrived a while ago. |
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Storm
I'm new here and I like it ;-)
Joined: 27 Jun 2007
Posts: 41
Location: Thailand
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| #6 (permalink) Thu Oct 04, 2007 7:58 am Expression: "She told me she had come here many years ago." |
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| storm wrote: |
I would prefer:
She told me she came here many years ago.
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Hi,
Haven't you heard of the sequence of tenses?
As long as "come" denoted the action prior to "tell", you are obliged to put "come" into the past perfect. ;) |
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Lost_Soul
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 15 Sep 2006
Posts: 1861
Location: South Park, Colorado, USA
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| #7 (permalink) Thu Oct 04, 2007 8:52 am Expression: "She told me she had come here many years ago." |
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No, you are not, LS. Past perfect is called for only if the sequence of past events is unclear or needs to be stressed.
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Mister Micawber
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| #8 (permalink) Sun Oct 07, 2007 16:53 pm Expression: "She told me she had come here many years ago." |
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| She told me she had come here before. |
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Edison_Chen_e_c
I'm here quite often ;-)
Joined: 23 Jul 2007
Posts: 206
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