Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[fw]

Hello everyone.

The passage below is from an English writing textbook published in Japan.

　The movie �Stand By Me� is about four boys who are very close friends. Their summer vacation is almost over and they want to do something exciting. They believe they will be heroes if they can find the dead body of a teenage boy who has been missing from their town! They begin a long overnight trip through the woods and down a railroad track. Along the way, they discover things about their deep feelings which had never come out before. There are many movies about friendship and growing up, but �Stand By Me� is one of the best. Highly recommended.
　　　
－ Michael Stevens
(quoted from the ��Entertainment Section� of the September Edition of �Central High Post�)

Question:
Is �things about their deep feelings which had never come out before� in the 5th sentence above grammatically correct? I think it should have been �things about their deep feelings which have never come out before.�

Any comment would beappreciated.

Best regards,
fw

[JuanValdez]

[fw]

Thank you for your comment,

It really helps, since the quotation is all presented in the present tense. When I was taught English at school I was told by our English teachers not to use the past-perfect form unless the past tense is introduced in the text as the time frame.

fw