She was writing a composition last night. She went to bed without finishing it.

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Alice Chu

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Hello, dear teachers.
Could you please tell me if the following sentences are correct?
Thank you very much for your help and kindness.

1) She was writing a composition last night. She went to bed without finishing it.
2) She wrote a composition last night. She went to bed after finishing it.
3) She had written a composition last week.
4) She had been writing a composition last week.
 

teechar

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All those sentences are possible, but do you know the difference between the past perfect and past simple?
 

Tdol

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And what do you mean by the last two?
 

emsr2d2

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3 and 4 don't work.
 

Yankee

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3 & 4 would be OK with some follow-on statement such as, 3./4. ".....when she noticed several errors".
 

Alice Chu

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Hello, dear teachers.
I don’t think sentence 3 or 4 works because past perfect and past perfect continuous usually denote something happening before another action or moment in the past.
Could you please tell me if my understanding is correct?
Could you please tell me if the following sentences correct?

1) She was writing a composition last week. She gave up before finishing it.
2) She wrote a composition last week. It is her first composition, and she hopes her teacher will be satisfied with it.
3) She had written a composition when her friends asked her to go out for dinner.
4) She had been writing a composition for two hours when she felt sleepy.
 

teechar

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I don’t think sentence 3 or 4 works because past perfect and past perfect continuous usually denotes something happening before another action or moment in the past.
Could you please tell me if my understanding is correct?
Remember that sentences usually exist in some context. Thus, #3 and #4 can work given the right context.

Could you please tell me if the following sentences correct?
1) She was writing a composition last week. She gave up before finishing it.
Those are grammatical, but they would sound better as two clauses (in one sentence) joined by "but".

2) She wrote a composition last week. It is her first composition, and she hopes her teacher will be satisfied with it.
OK.

3) She had written a composition when her friends asked her to go out for dinner.
That's a strange sentence. It suggests that she wrote the composition in the few seconds when her friends asked her to go for dinner.
Rewrite it or explain what you're trying to say using other/more words.

4) She had been writing a composition for two hours when she felt sleepy.
OK.
 

Alice Chu

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1. Could you please tell me why you use singular verb, denotes, with plural subject, two tenses-past perfect and past perfect continuous?
2. Could you please tell me if the following sentences are correct?

1) She had written a composition last week when her teacher asked her to write another one. She decided to relax first and then worked on the new composition.
2) She had been writing a composition last week when her teacher asked her to write another one. She was worried she couldn’t finish the two compositions in time.
3) She had been writing a composition for three days last week when her teacher asked her to write another one. She had to work harder to finish her compositions.
4) His car had been stolen last night by the time he got home.

Thank you very much for your help and kindness.
 

teechar

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1. Could you please tell me why you use singular verb, denotes, with plural subject, two tenses-past perfect and past perfect continuous?
My apologies. I must have misread that sentence.

2. Could you please tell me if the following sentences are correct?

1) She had written a composition last week when her teacher asked her to write another one. She decided to relax first and then worked on the new composition.
2) She had been writing a composition last week when her teacher asked her to write another one. She was worried she couldn’t finish the two compositions in time.
3) She had been writing a composition for three days last week when her teacher asked her to write another one. She had to work harder to finish her compositions.
4) His car had been stolen last night by the time he got home.
Those are possible, but I would use something like "take a break" or "get some rest" instead of "relax" in the first one.
 

Alice Chu

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1)...She decided to take a break and then work on the new composition.
Is the correction OK?
 

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