Results 1 to 3 of 3
Like Tree2Likes
  • 1 Post By emsr2d2
  • 1 Post By bertietheblue

Thread: confusing past tenses

  1. #1
    heyt is offline Junior Member
    • Member Info
      • Member Type:
      • Student or Learner
      • Native Language:
      • Hungarian
      • Home Country:
      • Hungary
      • Current Location:
      • Hungary
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Posts
    95

    Default confusing past tenses

    Hi,

    could you help find out how can I best say that 'first she didn't want to come but than I could convince her to come'

    I feel the 2nd and 4th sentences to be good.

    1. She didn't want to come, but finally we could convince her.
    2. She hadn't wanted to come, but finally we could convince her.
    3. She didn't want to come, but finally we were able to convince her.
    4. She hadn't wanted to come, but finally we were able to convince her.

    thanks a lot,
    heyt

  2. #2
    emsr2d2's Avatar
    emsr2d2 is offline Moderator
    • Member Info
      • Member Type:
      • English Teacher
      • Native Language:
      • British English
      • Home Country:
      • UK
      • Current Location:
      • UK
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Posts
    15,594

    Default Re: confusing past tenses

    Quote Originally Posted by heyt View Post
    Hi,

    could you help find out how can I best say that 'first she didn't want to come but than I could convince her to come'

    I feel the 2nd and 4th sentences to be good.

    1. She didn't want to come, but finally we could convince her.
    2. She hadn't wanted to come, but finally we could convince her.
    3. She didn't want to come, but finally we were able to convince her.
    4. She hadn't wanted to come, but finally we were able to convince her.

    thanks a lot,
    heyt
    1 & 2 = definitely not.
    3 = OK
    4 = best (for me)
    heyt likes this.

  3. #3
    bertietheblue is offline Senior Member
    • Member Info
      • Member Type:
      • Other
      • Native Language:
      • English
      • Home Country:
      • UK
      • Current Location:
      • UK
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Posts
    577

    Default Re: confusing past tenses

    3 & 4 both OK. Also, 'we convinced her' is fine instead of 'we were able to convince her' (indeed, the fewer the words the better should be a guiding principle when writing English) unless you are emphasising the effort of convincing her.
    heyt likes this.

Similar Threads

  1. [Grammar] Totally lost - Past simple
    By engpoem in forum Ask a Teacher
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 02-Oct-2008, 06:41
  2. Is Yesterday a past time?
    By shun in forum General Language Discussions
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 13-Feb-2008, 18:54
  3. I'm confused about past tenses
    By Assassin in forum Ask a Teacher
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 25-Jan-2008, 02:57
  4. I Know there are 3 tenses .. past , Present , Future .. But
    By Unregistered in forum Ask a Teacher
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 06-Jul-2007, 16:30
  5. Past tense
    By Amy in forum Ask a Teacher
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 04-Nov-2004, 09:50

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Hotchalk

Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.1