The sun could rise.

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Rollercoaster1

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I reached there before the sun could rose. Is it also correct to say 'The sun could rise before I had reached there'?
 
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How about 'I could reach there before the sunrise, but I couldn't'.
 
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'I could ... but I couldn't'.

That's nonsensical, too.:-(
 
You might want to use "I managed to" if you're trying to describe success in achieving something.
For example,

I managed to get/reach there before sunrise.
 
'I could ... but I couldn't'.

That's nonsensical, too.:-(

I don't understand why when a person, interested in a language, tries to shares his own thoughts or constructs a sentence, which is grammatically correct, yet sounds nonsensical to others.

You may have read the ballad 'The Abbot of Cantrrbury'. There are a few lines beyond my understanding. The lines are:

"You must rise with the sun, and ride with the same
Until the next morning he rises again;

And then your grace need not make any doubt
But in twenty-four hours you'll ride it about."

How could one, in those times and even today, could possibly travel around the globe in 24 hours? We all know that the earth rotates about its axis each day, which is 24 hours.

The line 'You must rise with the sun, and ride with the same' suggests that from the point it casts its first ray of the day, you start your journey and keep travelling with it until it rises again. Isn't it odd to say or hear 'rise with sun and travel with it (travel along as it keeps rising and setting), and you will be able to travel the whole world?
 
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How about 'I could reach there before the sunrise, but I couldn't'.
The sentence contradicts itself. It says I was able to get there before sunrise. I wasn't able to get there before sunrise.
 
I reached there before the sun [STRIKE]could[/STRIKE] rose.

It's correct if you delete could.


Is it also correct to say 'The sun could rise before I had reached there'?

No. You can say:

- The sun rose before I got there.
- The sun might rise before I get there.
- The sun might have risen before I got there.
- The sun could have risen before I got there.
It depends on what you mean.
 
I don't understand why when a person, interested in a language, tries to shares his own thoughts or constructs a sentence, which is grammatically correct, yet sounds nonsensical to others . . . . [You need to complete this sentence. If you use the word when that way, you have to complete the thought.]

As we tried to explain, the sentences you shared needed correction to work.


You may have read the ballad 'The Abbot of Canterbury'. There are a few lines beyond my understanding. The lines are:

"You must rise with the sun, and ride with the same
Until the next morning he rises again;

That is, you must get up at sunrise and ride all day and night.


And then your grace need not make any doubt
But in twenty-four hours you'll ride it about."

I don't know what it refers to, so I can't explain those lines.


How could one, in those times and even today, could possibly travel around the globe in 24 hours? We all know that the earth rotates about its axis each day, which is 24 hours.

The line 'You must rise with the sun, and ride with the same'

suggests that from the point it casts its first ray of the day, you start your journey and keep travelling with it until it rises again. Isn't it odd to say or hear 'rise with sun and travel with it (travel along as it keeps rising and setting), and you will be able to travel the whole world?

That's not what he's saying. He's saying, get up in the morning and go.


Remember that in the 1300s, there was no agreement that the world was round.
Why are you reading Chaucer?
 
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I don't understand why when a person, interested in a language, tries to shares his own thoughts or constructs a sentence, which is grammatically correct, yet sounds nonsensical to others . . . . [You need to complete this sentence. If you use the word when that way, you have to complete the thought.]

I don't understand why when a person, interested in a language, tries to shares his own thoughts or constructs a sentence, which is grammatically correct, his thoughts or sentence sound nonsensical to others.
 
I don't understand why when a person . . . tries to shares his own thoughts . . . his thoughts . . . sound nonsensical to others.
You're saying that students' thoughts always sound nonsensical to us. In fact, they usually do make sense, even when there are errors.

When there are errors, we point them out to help the student write sentences that do make sense.

For example, the sentence "'I could reach there before the sunrise, but I couldn't'" is a vocabulary mistake. Either you could or you couldn't. Read posts 7, 8, and 10 again to see if you understand the problem now.

This would make sense: "
'I could have reached there before sunrise, but I didn't."

But more importantly, do you understand now what Chaucer was saying? It was not about riding a horse around the world in a day.

Again, why are you reading Chaucer? Is it a school assignment?
 
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You're saying that students' thoughts always sound nonsensical to us. In fact, they usually do make sense, even when there are errors.

But sometimes they don't make sense. When they don't, the reason we point them out is to help the student write sentences that do make sense.

For example, the sentence "'I could reach there before the sunrise, but I couldn't'" is impossible. Either you could or you couldn't. This would make sense: "'I could have reached there before the sunrise, but I didn't."

Thanks for the enlightening response.

Why are you reading Chaucer? Is it a school assignment?

One of my English books in 11th grade was poetry. No, it's not an assignment.
 
. . . One of my English books in 11th grade was poetry. No, it's not an assignment.
I see! It's a good exercise, and it can be fun.

I know how hard it can be to decipher old poetry. Even we native English speakers struggle with it sometimes.

So keep asking questions. I hope your sunrise question got answered.
 
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