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ESL forum > Grammar and Linguistics > Which one is more correct than the other one?    

Which one is more correct than the other one?



ksfredriksen
Norway

Which one is more correct than the other one?
 
Which of these sentences is the most correct?

My sister has tried on a hundred hats, but bought only the red one.

                                              or

My sister tried on a hundred hats, but bought only the red one.



To me, the second one sound more corrent than the first one.

Thanks for answering! :)

3 Feb 2014      





mohamedthabet
Tunisia

I, too, think the 2nd is correct for the following reasons:

a) We can �t use present perfect for an action that precedes an other one in the simple past (trying is prior to buying)
b) We use present perfect for an action whose time is indefinite, but here the time of trying is defined by the verb "bought" in the simple past. So we should put it in the simple past, too.

3 Feb 2014     



ksfredriksen
Norway

Thanks :)

3 Feb 2014     



ahmadiahmad
Algeria

i think that using the past perfect + past simple would be better as they can be used to describe two actions that took place in the past successively.we use the past perfect for the first one which is trying  here and simple past for the second one which is buying
 my sister had tried on ......, she bought the red one

4 Feb 2014     



yanogator
United States

ahmadiahmad is correct in general, but I think that in this situation, your choice of "tried on" and "bought" works best.
 
Bruce

4 Feb 2014