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ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > Past Perfect or Past simple
Past Perfect or Past simple
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diadora
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Past Perfect or Past simple
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Do we have to use "Past simple" or "Past Perfect" in this sentence?
He recalled that he ____always ____ home late on Wednesdays. ( "had come" or "came" ) We usually use past perfect to refer an action that happened before the other in the past. But some of my colleagues don �t agree with me stating that it was repeated action in the past. Please, support yur ideas with definite grammar sources. With regards, |
1 May 2016
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Gi2gi
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Past perfect. I won �t support my thoughts with any grammar sources. Just common sense. There are two gaps you have to fill out, and had come fits perfectly. And, if you are in need of a rule, you could as well state that the �Past Perfect form implies that the action or state had been completed before another state or action started in the past or before a stated time in the past. In your case the �recollection � of the action (�coming home �) happened after the main verb, be sure to use the Past Perfect. � Have a nice day � Giorgi�
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1 May 2016
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aee.aee
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Because of the reported speech (tense shift). He recalled what had happened before that moment. Have a nice day. Mattea |
1 May 2016
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L. habach
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Amercan English: He recalled what happened before that moment. |
1 May 2016
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baloochester
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I would have said past simple "he recalled that he always came late on Wednesdays" as it expresses an habit in the past as we can see it thanks to "always" and "on Wednesdays". If the sentence hadn �t expressed an habit I would have put a past perfect but because of the meaning of the sentence I will use a past simple |
1 May 2016
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yanogator
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Either choice can be correct (simple past or past perfect), depending on the situation, but simple past is the more sensible choice because of the repeated action, as your colleagues and baloochester said. However, if the habit had stopped, and he was recalling his youth, then the past perfect is correct. |
1 May 2016
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cunliffe
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Also, �he recalled that he would always come home late on Wednesdays. Or �used to�... for repeated actions in the past. Or have I missed something? |
1 May 2016
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WanderingJoe
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Past Simple, For the reasons stated by Baloochester and Yanugator. Personally, I would use Past Simple, but I think there is also a degree of laziness when it comes to native speakers talking about the past. It �s easier to use past simple than think about Past perfect, and past perfect is usually used in writing. In speech, past simple covers for it. In this example, with the habitual action in the past, it makes past simple sound more natural. "He recalled that he had not spoken to his brother since leaving New York on Monday" Here past perfect feels more natural because he is referring to a single action, not a repeated or habitual one. |
1 May 2016
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Apodo
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He recalled that he had always come home late on Wednesdays. |
1 May 2016
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WanderingJoe
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This thread hasn �t really helped the poor fellow. I can see both tenses being used here, as several posters have said. Past Perfect is more grammatically correct, the more I look at it, but many people would use the more natural sounding Past simple, especially in speech. |
2 May 2016
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Apodo
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I used past perfect because �he recalled � sounds as if this happened a long time ago in the past. (He doesn �t come home late on Wednesdays now.) I would use past simple if this was the scenario: She said she �d visit him on Wednesday after work, but then he remembered that he always came home late on Wednesdays, so they changed the meeting to Thursday. (He currently arrives home late on Wednesday) |
2 May 2016
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