Anonymous Posted 19 years ago
Grammar
typical past perfect usage?
Hi,
Is this the example of a typical past perfect usage? If it is so, is my explanation plausible?
When my husband spoke to a group of men yesterday, he learned John had been a homosexual.
Here, the person who wrote this sentence is talking about what has expired yesterday, that is her husband talked to a group of men yesterday, and in that talk, he found out that (up until that day, that is 'yesterday'), John had been a homosexual and for that matter, just looking at this simple sentence alone without the whole context, John could still be a homosexual or stopped being homosexual for that matter, but the importance of this fact is a non-issue or down played . Do you agree?
Is this the example of a typical past perfect usage? If it is so, is my explanation plausible?
When my husband spoke to a group of men yesterday, he learned John had been a homosexual.
Here, the person who wrote this sentence is talking about what has expired yesterday, that is her husband talked to a group of men yesterday, and in that talk, he found out that (up until that day, that is 'yesterday'), John had been a homosexual and for that matter, just looking at this simple sentence alone without the whole context, John could still be a homosexual or stopped being homosexual for that matter, but the importance of this fact is a non-issue or down played . Do you agree?
Top answer
John had been a homosexual - this means he was a homosexual in the past but is not cureently a homosexual. John was a homosexual - this means he is currently a homosexual.
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John had been a homosexual - this means he was a homosexual in the past but is not cureently a homosexual.
John was a homosexual - this means he is currently a homosexual.
John was a homosexual - this means he is currently a homosexual.
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