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English Grammar


Wrong correction ,

Jean-Paul Pierre
User since 2008
Posts: 5

30 July 2012

I wrote :
"Jean has been studying English for six months before coming to work in America."


And the correct answer would be :
"Jean had studied English for six months before coming to work in America."


I can't believe it !
What do you think of it ?

3 comments

  • User since 2008
    Posts: 499

    31 July 2012

    I can understand that you are somehow puzzled by the Past Perfect being the correct tense in this case, because we have learnt that for an action which started at an unspecified point in the past the Present Perfect is the correct choide.


    Nevertheless, if you look really close you'll see that there is a specific point in the past before which the action had taken place. And that past point is when Jean came to America. And relative to that point in time we have an action which occured even further back in time: Jean's studying Englisn.


    In a shutshell, whenever we have a action which started before a past action or moment and which was completed by the that moment, we use the Past Perfect,


    e..g: [i][b]
    "Before Jean came to America (=action/time in the past), he had studied (or: had been studying) English for six month (=action preceding the past action/time)."[/b][/i]


    The Gerund form (" before coming" ) in the original sentence is only anotther form (a reduced form) of saying "before he came".
  • User since 2008
    Posts: 499

    11 Aug. 2012

    "You're welcome. I always a pleasure to give comprehensive answers and reap a nice response."
  • User since 2009
    Posts: 613

    11 Aug. 2012

    Oh, thanks a lot Spoiler.

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