fw
Joined: 12 Oct 2005
Posts: 361
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 Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2009 11:21 am Post subject: had done |
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In the second sentence in the passage below, the verb is in the past perfect form �had done.� I thought it should have been �has done� or �did� because there is no mention of the past tense nearby on which the past perfect tense �had done� relies.
What do you think?
Against the traditions, Samia has continued her education past the eighth grade. No other girl in the village had done this before. She has become famous among the girls of her village and those nearby.
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dragn
Joined: 17 Feb 2009
Posts: 450
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| Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 2:47 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Against the traditions, Samia has continued her education past the eighth grade. No other girl in the village had done this before. She has become famous among the girls of her village and those nearby. |
This is a slippery one, but I think I can help you understand why the writer chose past perfect.
When we are told that Samia has continued her education past the eighth grade, all we know for certain is that she at least started the ninth grade. Perhaps has finished the ninth grade. Perhaps she has finished high school. Maybe she is currently working on her dissertation for her PhD. We don't know; but what we do know is that the day she set foot in the classroom on the first day of school in the ninth grade, at that moment she accomplished the action of continuing her education past the eighth grade. Obviously, that action occurred in the past. Prior to that moment, no other girl in the village had done this.
In other words, the reference point of time in the past is the moment she started the ninth grade. Strictly speaking, that's when she continued her education past the eighth grade.
Actually, it would be fine to use present perfect here. Your analysis is quite reasonable. You could think of the action of continuing her education past the eighth grade as an overall process that continues up to now, and the present perfect handles that nicely. All I am trying to do is take you inside the mind of the person who wrote the passage to help you understand why he or she decided to use the past perfect.
Hope this makes sense.
Greg |
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