two English grammatical questions! Thanks!

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learningchayse
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two English grammatical questions! Thanks!

Postby learningchayse » Wed Feb 13, 2019 6:43 am

Hello, everyone.

I need help with two English grammatical questions

Q1:
i am reading a book and have a question about the tense switch.

context:
(a story about a woman who finally had a baby in the past).She was ecstatic. She had wanted to be a mother forever.....I saw the joy in her face and i recognized it. This was the exact joy my own face had radiated last spring, the day i discovered that the magazine i worked for was going to send me on assignment to Newzealand, ...

question:
why the tense shifted from past perfect to past: this was the exact joy my own face HAD RADIATED last spring. they day i DISCOVERED...i WORKED...
since it is an event some point in last spring, why not continuing with the past perfect?
what are the rules here?

Q2:
it is about the relative clause.

i have written a descriptive paragraph in simple present tense.
and the next sentence is going to be something like

A: now comes the part which was left out in the story.
B: now comes the part where it was left out in the story.
C: now comes the part which is left out in the story.
D: now comes the part where it is left out in the story.

which is/are correct?


Thanks.
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Re: two English grammatical questions! Thanks!

Postby DaveAgain » Wed Feb 13, 2019 9:00 am

learningchayse wrote:
Q2:
it is about the relative clause.

i have written a descriptive paragraph in simple present tense.
and the next sentence is going to be something like

A: now comes the part which was left out in the story.
B: now comes the part where it was left out in the story.
C: now comes the part which is left out in the story.
D: now comes the part where it is left out in the story.

which is/are correct?
Without seeing it in context, I think A or C could be appropriate.
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learningchayse
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Re: two English grammatical questions! Thanks!

Postby learningchayse » Wed Feb 13, 2019 9:16 am

DaveAgain wrote:
learningchayse wrote:
Q2:
it is about the relative clause.

i have written a descriptive paragraph in simple present tense.
and the next sentence is going to be something like

A: now comes the part which was left out in the story.
B: now comes the part where it was left out in the story.
C: now comes the part which is left out in the story.
D: now comes the part where it is left out in the story.

which is/are correct?
Without seeing it in context, I think A or C could be appropriate.


Thanks for the help!
Last edited by learningchayse on Wed Feb 13, 2019 10:25 am, edited 2 times in total.
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learningchayse
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Re: two English grammatical questions! Thanks!

Postby learningchayse » Wed Feb 13, 2019 9:33 am

DaveAgain wrote:
learningchayse wrote:
Q2:
it is about the relative clause.

i have written a descriptive paragraph in simple present tense.
and the next sentence is going to be something like

A: now comes the part which was left out in the story.
B: now comes the part where it was left out in the story.
C: now comes the part which is left out in the story.
D: now comes the part where it is left out in the story.

which is/are correct?
Without seeing it in context, I think A or C could be appropriate.


Could you pls explain more about in which context I should use C instead of A?
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DaveAgain
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Re: two English grammatical questions! Thanks!

Postby DaveAgain » Thu Feb 14, 2019 8:21 pm

learningchayse wrote:
DaveAgain wrote:
learningchayse wrote:
Q2:
it is about the relative clause.

i have written a descriptive paragraph in simple present tense.
and the next sentence is going to be something like

A: now comes the part which was left out in the story.
B: now comes the part where it was left out in the story.
C: now comes the part which is left out in the story.
D: now comes the part where it is left out in the story.

which is/are correct?
Without seeing it in context, I think A or C could be appropriate.


Could you pls explain more about in which context I should use C instead of A?
Paste in the rest of the paragraph, and I'll tell you what I would use.
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Re: two English grammatical questions! Thanks!

Postby Lianne » Thu Feb 14, 2019 9:27 pm

DaveAgain wrote:
learningchayse wrote:
Q2:
it is about the relative clause.

i have written a descriptive paragraph in simple present tense.
and the next sentence is going to be something like

A: now comes the part which was left out in the story.
B: now comes the part where it was left out in the story.
C: now comes the part which is left out in the story.
D: now comes the part where it is left out in the story.

which is/are correct?
Without seeing it in context, I think A or C could be appropriate.


I almost agree, except "which" should be replaced with "that". So, use something like "Now comes the part that was left out in the story."

There's a decent explanation here.
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Re: two English grammatical questions! Thanks!

Postby rdearman » Thu Feb 14, 2019 9:34 pm

Lianne wrote:I almost agree, except "which" should be replaced with "that". So, use something like "Now comes the part that was left out in the story."

There's a decent explanation here.

"That" is a useless word. When writing I always remove it and if it has to have a word I replace that with which.

e.g.

He had the same two that the girl had.
He had the same two the girl had.

He told her that it was in the left drawer.
He told her it was in the left drawer.

He lost the glasses that he'd been using.
He lost the glasses which he'd been using.
He lost the glasses he'd been using.


If I were writing it there would be an option E:

now comes the part left out in the story.
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Re: two English grammatical questions! Thanks!

Postby Lianne » Thu Feb 14, 2019 9:43 pm

rdearman wrote:
Lianne wrote:I almost agree, except "which" should be replaced with "that". So, use something like "Now comes the part that was left out in the story."

There's a decent explanation here.

"That" is a useless word. When writing I always remove it and if it has to have a word I replace that with which.

e.g.

He had the same two that the girl had.
He had the same two the girl had.

He told her that it was in the left drawer.
He told her it was in the left drawer.

He lost the glasses that he'd been using.
He lost the glasses which he'd been using.
He lost the glasses he'd been using.


If I were writing it there would be an option E:

now comes the part left out in the story.


I mean, that's a stylistic choice, if you want to remove it when it's not strictly necessary. But replacing "that" with "which" doesn't work. For example, "He lost the glasses that he'd been using." and "He lost the glasses which he'd been using." don't mean the same thing.
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Re: two English grammatical questions! Thanks!

Postby Lianne » Thu Feb 14, 2019 9:47 pm

learningchayse wrote:Hello, everyone.

I need help with two English grammatical questions

Q1:
i am reading a book and have a question about the tense switch.

context:
(a story about a woman who finally had a baby in the past).She was ecstatic. She had wanted to be a mother forever.....I saw the joy in her face and i recognized it. This was the exact joy my own face had radiated last spring, the day i discovered that the magazine i worked for was going to send me on assignment to Newzealand, ...

question:
why the tense shifted from past perfect to past: this was the exact joy my own face HAD RADIATED last spring. they day i DISCOVERED...i WORKED...
since it is an event some point in last spring, why not continuing with the past perfect?
what are the rules here?

Thanks.


As a native English speaker, I'm really struggling to explain this one! I *think* it's because it's in a phrase that's giving context to the rest of the sentence. "the day I discovered..." is like a setting for the rest of the sentence.

If others have an actual grammatical rule that explains this, I too would be interested in knowing it!
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Re: two English grammatical questions! Thanks!

Postby rdearman » Thu Feb 14, 2019 11:17 pm

Lianne wrote:
rdearman wrote:
Lianne wrote:I almost agree, except "which" should be replaced with "that". So, use something like "Now comes the part that was left out in the story."

There's a decent explanation here.

"That" is a useless word. When writing I always remove it and if it has to have a word I replace that with which.

e.g.

He had the same two that the girl had.
He had the same two the girl had.

He told her that it was in the left drawer.
He told her it was in the left drawer.

He lost the glasses that he'd been using.
He lost the glasses which he'd been using.
He lost the glasses he'd been using.


If I were writing it there would be an option E:

now comes the part left out in the story.


I mean, that's a stylistic choice, if you want to remove it when it's not strictly necessary. But replacing "that" with "which" doesn't work. For example, "He lost the glasses that he'd been using." and "He lost the glasses which he'd been using." don't mean the same thing.


Why do you believe it is different? I believe they are interchangeable.
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