Past perfect

Status
Not open for further replies.

tufguy

VIP Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2014
Location
India
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Hindi
Home Country
India
Current Location
India
Hi guys,

Please check this sentence "When I started watching that movie it had alreay been half finished".
 

Roman55

Key Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2014
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
British English
Home Country
Italy
Current Location
France
I am not a teacher.

"When I started watching that movie it was already half finished."

I would probably say "half over" or "halfway through".
 
Last edited:

lotus888

Member
Joined
May 6, 2014
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
By the time I started watching the movie, it was already half over.



--lotus
 

tufguy

VIP Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2014
Location
India
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Hindi
Home Country
India
Current Location
India
Is my sentence totally wrong
 

MikeNewYork

VIP Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Yes, pretty much.
 

tufguy

VIP Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2014
Location
India
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Hindi
Home Country
India
Current Location
India
So we can't use "Had done" or have I used it incorrectly, if we cannot use "Had done"here then my question is why because here we are moving 1 step back in past.
 

Raymott

VIP Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
English
Home Country
Australia
Current Location
Australia
So we can't use "Had done" or have I used it incorrectly, if we cannot use "Had done"here then my question is why because here we are moving 1 step back in past.
Your original is totally incorrect.
If you want to use unusual English, you could say, "...it had already half finished", but not "... had already been half finished".
A movie that had already been half finished is a movie that hasn't completed production yet.
 

tufguy

VIP Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2014
Location
India
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Hindi
Home Country
India
Current Location
India
OK got you.
 

MikeNewYork

VIP Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Raymott's statement that your sentence was totally correct was either facetious or incorrect.
 

Raymott

VIP Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
English
Home Country
Australia
Current Location
Australia
Raymott's statement that your sentence was totally correct was either facetious or incorrect.
Well, it's a pity I didn't make that statement.
 

MikeNewYork

VIP Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Oops! I apologize. I misread your post. :oops:
 

tufguy

VIP Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2014
Location
India
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Hindi
Home Country
India
Current Location
India
Please Mike say clearly.
 

tufguy

VIP Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2014
Location
India
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Hindi
Home Country
India
Current Location
India
What exactly do you want to say?
 

MikeNewYork

VIP Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
I don't know what you mean.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top