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 Wed Jul 23, 2008 9:45 am Please check this sentence and correct it's errors if there are . I appreciate |
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We had asked him not to leave a message, but to call us anytime he wanted. After two weeks he hadn't called, but rather had left one message for us.
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Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mr. Micawber |
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Mister Micawber
Language Coach
Joined: 17 Jul 2005
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Location: Yokohama, Japan
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| Thu Jul 24, 2008 11:57 am Please check this sentence and correct it's errors if there are . I appreciate |
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I don't dare argue with a moderator but I would write this sentence in the following way : We asked him not to leave a message, but to call us anytime he wanted. After two weeks he didn't call, but rather had left one message.
I don't want to seem ignorant (though maybe I am), but is it so important to use Past Perfect in the first sentence? And I don't understand which action in the second sentence had been earlier (call or message). If you don't mind I'd like to hear an explanation, plz. 
P.S. As far as I know in a sentence we have a "mistake" not an "error".
Thanx in advance. |
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 Maryann
I'm new here and I like it ;-)
Joined: 23 Jul 2008
Posts: 37
Location: Ukraine
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| Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:26 pm Please check this sentence and correct it's errors if there are . I appreciate |
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I have just followed the original poster's template, Maryann; presumably, he has a good reason in his context for using past perfect.
I see no serious semantic problem with using 'error' here. Here is the first definition at Dictionary.com:
1. a deviation from accuracy or correctness; a mistake, as in action or speech.
Trying to separate mistakes from errors is not an efficient use of language study time.
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Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mr. Micawber |
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Mister Micawber
Language Coach
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Location: Yokohama, Japan
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| Thu Jul 24, 2008 13:17 pm Please check this sentence and correct it's errors if there are . I appreciate |
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Thank you for a quick reply, Mister Micawber. But I'd like to know if the variant I wrote was possible. As for the "mistake" and "error" I just mean that "mistake" is most frequently used in ordinary speech than "error", isn't it? And to my mind it would sound better if in this case we say "mistake".
P.S. I'm opened to critics and grateful for it, it helps to improve myself in further studying
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Maryann
I'm new here and I like it ;-)
Joined: 23 Jul 2008
Posts: 37
Location: Ukraine
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| Thu Jul 24, 2008 13:39 pm Please check this sentence and correct it's errors if there are . I appreciate |
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| Quote: | | We asked him not to leave a message, but to call us anytime he wanted. After two weeks he didn't call, but rather had left one message. |
I see nothing wrong at all with using the simple past, and it is certainly simpler and more usual-- but then your final past perfect sticks out like a sore thumb.
I can't speak to the relative frequency of mistake and error; I have been using both of them too long on these fora.
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_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mr. Micawber |
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Mister Micawber
Language Coach
Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 4761
Location: Yokohama, Japan
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| Thu Jul 24, 2008 13:51 pm Please check this sentence and correct it's errors if there are . I appreciate |
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Yeah, I don't like that final past perfect either, thank you so much for explanation.
Maryann |
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Maryann
I'm new here and I like it ;-)
Joined: 23 Jul 2008
Posts: 37
Location: Ukraine
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| Sat Jul 26, 2008 5:17 am Please check this sentence and correct it's errors if there are . I appreciat |
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| Mister Micawber wrote: | .
We had asked him not to leave a message, but to call us anytime he wanted. After two weeks he hadn't called, but rather had left one message for us.
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Thanks alot for your kind reply ! |
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Alireza2254
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