Tenses

[Ju]

1) I (have seen / had seen) this film before

The model answer is have seen.
Why can't we use had seen?

2) I you don't come tomorrow, I (shall go / will go) alone.

The model answer is shall go.
Why can't we use will go?

3) I gound the book that I (hid / had hidden) in a box.

The model answer is had hidden.
Why can't we use hid?


Tks / ju

[Raymott]

1) I (have seen / had seen) this film before

The model answer is have seen.
Why can't we use had seen?

Without a context, both versions is right. But on a test you would choose the less marked form, the more common, the one which needs the least extra context to make it acceptable - the present perfect.

2) I you don't come tomorrow, I (shall go / will go) alone.

The model answer is shall go.
Why can't we use will go?
You can in real life. On an exam, you'd select the form that was more traditionally correct.

3) I gound the book that I (hid / had hidden) in a box.
found?
The model answer is had hidden.
Why can't we use hid?
Because this question is testing your knowledge of the past perfect tense.
Something had happened in the past previous to something that happened more recently in the past.

Tks / ju

You can't take any of these questions at face value. If you are given a question where more than one answer is possible, you have to ask yourself: What are they trying to test here? Why do they want this answer and not that answer?

[Ju]

You can't take any of these questions at face value. If you are given a question where more than one answer is possible, you have to ask yourself: What are they trying to test here? Why do they want this answer and not that answer?

Thank you, Raymott.

You mentioned :

"You can't take any of these questions at face value."

"Without a context, both versions is right. But on a test you would choose the less marked form, the more common, the one which needs the least extra context to make it acceptable - the present perfect."

What does it mean of "less marked form" & "at face value"?

Tks / ju

[Raymott]

Thank you, Raymott.

You mentioned :

"You can't take any of these questions at face value."

"Without a context, both versions is right. But on a test you would choose the less marked form, the more common, the one which needs the least extra context to make it acceptable - the present perfect."

What does it mean of "less marked form" & "at face value"?
A marked form basically means the less usual form, the one that sounds strangest. (It's really a technical linguistic definition that you don't have to worry about - that's why I added some extra phrases).
"At face value" means "as it appears on a first look", "without thinking about it too much".
Tks / ju

R.