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syoshioka99 · Joined: 28 Oct 2005 Posts: 185 Location: Korea

問３　Our dog ( ) for many weeks, but in the end she came back.

①　has missed ②　missed ③　was missing ④　was to miss(Question)

I think the answer is③. Can I use "had been missing" or "had missed" instead of③?
Tochigi, JAPAN

Satoru

alan.es · Joined: 01 Mar 2006 Posts: 73

No. 3 is correct. You can use "had been missing" but not "had missed.

The dog is the subject in a passive sentence so the verb 'to be' has to be used. Otherwise you would be saying something like , "the dog had missed the bus Smile

" rather than meaning that 'she was lost'.

syoshioka99 · Joined: 28 Oct 2005 Posts: 185 Location: Korea

Our dog (was missing/ had been missing) for many weeks, but in the end she came back.

(Further Question)

You told me both are correct, but what is the difference between the two?

Are they identical?

Tochigi, Japan

Satoru

alan.es · Joined: 01 Mar 2006 Posts: 73

There's no real difference in meaning.

pavilion · Joined: 09 Mar 2006 Posts: 75 Location: US

Yes, the are identical. The difference is was missing is simple past tense, and had been missing is past perfect tense.

janechou111 · Joined: 27 Dec 2005 Posts: 8

Further questions...

Why can't I say the sentence "My dog had missed for many days, but in the end she came back." ?

Besides, the sentence "My dog had been missing for many days,..."
is not a passive sentence, is it?

Thanks in advance

jane
[/quote]

alan.es · Joined: 01 Mar 2006 Posts: 73

Sorry , you're quite right, it's not a passive.

The transitive verb 'to miss' has several meanings. The two main ones are:

1.failure to hit a target or objective
2.Feel bad or sorry about the absence of a person or being away from a place.

In this case you want to say that the dog was lost. You didn't know where it was. So:

to be missing - someone or something cannot be found, it's lost.

It's the verb 'to be' and the gerund as adjective 'missing'.

You can say:
I had missed the dog - but this means that you were sad because it wasn't with you - or - you tried to hit it but failed to do so.

also - the dog had missed me - which now means the dog felt sad because it wasn't with me - or- the dog tried to attack me but it failed.

In each case there needs to be a complement/object to the verb 'miss'.

It's only when we use the verb 'to be' and 'missing' together that it means 'to be lost'.

I hope that explains it correctly now. Smile