A or B ,that is a question.

[tm123]

--I'm sorry, but I don't quite follow you. Did you say you wanted to return on September 20?
--Sorry, I _____ myself clear. We want to return on October 20.
A. haven't made B. didn't make

Who can help me?

[virus99]

Hi!

I am no teacher.

But for the sake of a quick reply....

I would take "haven't made" because it still influences the present. You haven't made yourself clear and now you have to correct yourself as a consequence. The simple past would only state the fact itself. So I strongly tend to take the present perfect

But as I mentioned, I am no teacher.

[Pokemon]

--I'm sorry, but I don't quite follow you. Did you say you wanted to return on September 20?
--Sorry, I _____ myself clear. We want to return on October 20.
A. haven't made B. didn't make

Who can help me?

Option B is right. 'I didn't make myself clear'.
Reference is made to a specific moment in the past when the person was speaking about his intentions. It's not a coincidence that his co-speaker uses past simple in the question 'Did you say you wanted ...'.

[virus99]

Option B is right. 'I didn't make myself clear'.
Reference is made to a specific moment in the past when the person was speaking about his intentions. It's not a coincidence that his co-speaker uses past simple in the question 'Did you say you wanted ...'.

Ups, didn't regard the co-speaker's tense in his/her question.....

[5jj]

--I'm sorry, but I don't quite follow you. Did you say you wanted to return on September 20?
--Sorry, I _____ myself clear. We want to return on October 20.

Both answers are possible.

With A, the speaker is responding to "I don't quite follow you"; with B, S/he is responding to "Did you say ...?"

In both cases, 'We wanted to return ..." is a possible alternative to 'we want to return ...', though 'we want' is more natural with A, 'we wanted' with B.

[tm123]

English is strange.Now I am more puzzled. But thank all of you.

[5jj]

English is strange.Now I am more puzzled. But thank all of you.

English is an unusual language for many reasons. Three of them are:

1.Unlike most other languages, it cannot trace its ancestry back in a relatively unbroken line. Whilst it is clearly a Germanic language, several branches of this family had their input, and it has been heavily influenced by Romance languages.

2. Unlike some other major European languages, it has never had an academy to dictate what is correct and what is not.

3. For a number of reasons, English speakers settled in many different parts of the world, and established their language there. As time passed, each area developed its own version(s) of the language. Perhaps because of the spread of radio, film, television and, now, the internet, these versions have remained mutually intelligible, and each has had some degree of influence on the others.

So, there are very often different, but usually acceptable, ways of saying things in situations in which there may be only one way in other languages. This freedom of choice can sometimes be daunting for learners, many of whom would be far happier if there were no choice. In time, many learners come to find it liberating..