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 #2 (permalink) Sat Apr 06, 2013 3:23 am back then: back is a verb |
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| I don't see how back can be a verb in this context. I think that "then" is an adverb, as in "I knew her back then", it would be describing knew - when did you know her? In this case, "back" is an adverb describing then. |
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 Luschen
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| #3 (permalink) Sat Apr 06, 2013 5:11 am back then: back is a verb |
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Luschen'
"Most families, in the refugee camp, back then didn't/couldn't eat three meals a day."
Is this sentence using 'back then' correct?
To make it perfect, you can re-phrase it, please. |
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Allifathima
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| #4 (permalink) Sat Apr 06, 2013 6:47 am back then: back is a verb |
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I'd use 'at that time' instead of 'back then'.
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Beeesneees
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| #5 (permalink) Sat Apr 06, 2013 8:45 am back then: back is a verb |
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Hi Allifathima,
The trouble with this sentence is the position of the time expression ' -back then'
| Quote: | | Most families, in the refugee camp, back then didn't/couldn't eat three meals a day. |
It needs to be more closely associated with the subject 'Most families'. I would remove the commas and put it at the beginning as:
Back then most families in the refugee camp didn't/couldn't eat three meals a day.
Alan
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Alan
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| #6 (permalink) Sun Apr 07, 2013 15:05 pm back then: back is a verb |
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Thanks Luschen!
| Quote: | | I don't see how back can be a verb in this context. I think that "then" is an adverb, as in "I knew her back then", it would be describing knew - when did you know her? In this case, "back" is an adverb describing then. |
I thought about this but it seems to me that "back" and "then" here have the same meaning and therefore I tend to think that "back" is redundant here.
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Screen
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| #7 (permalink) Sun Apr 07, 2013 18:27 pm back then: back is a verb |
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| Screen wrote: | | I thought about this but it seems to me that "back" and "then" here have the same meaning and therefore I tend to think that "back" is redundant here. |
"back then" is pretty much a set expression, and, compared to "then", more strongly conveys the idea of habitual activities or occurrences in a past era and the implication that things are different now. The expression has a somewhat chatty or folksy feel. |
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Dozy
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| #8 (permalink) Sun Apr 07, 2013 19:01 pm back then: back is a verb |
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| Screen wrote: | | I tend to think that "back" is redundant here. |
***** NOT A TEACHER *****
Hello, Screen:
I do not think that "redundant" is the word that we are looking for.
a. "Mona is a female girl." I think that "female" is redundant.
In "back then," it seems that "back" is an adverb that simply emphasizes the adverb "then." Consider:
1. When I was in elementary school in the 1940's, there was no television back then.
2. When I was in elementary school in the 1940's, there was no television then.
3. When I was in elementary school in the 1940's, there was no television back.
I guess that we can agree that No. 3 is NOT acceptable.
James
P.S. You can tell that I actually did go to elementary school in the 1940's because I still feel more comfortable writing "1940's" instead of "1940s"! |
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James M
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| #9 (permalink) Mon Apr 08, 2013 2:29 am back then: back is a verb |
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"Most families, in the refugee camp, back then didn't/couldn't eat three meals a day."
The commas in that sentence obscure the meaning. It sounds like families now in the refugee camps were unable to eat 3 squares back then. Is your point that they are in the refugee camps as a result of malnutrition?
How about recasting the sentence as
Back then in the refugee camps, most families didn't/couldn't eat three square meals a day. |
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SteveThomas
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