Cynthia had lived in Nashville for ten years before she moved to Toronto.



	-----Original Message----- 

	From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar on behalf of Brad Johnston 

	Sent: Sun 3/8/2009 12:44 PM 

	To: [log in to unmask] 

	Cc: 

	Subject: On the road to Nashville

	

	

When Cynthia got to Nashville, she had been driving for 8 hours. (past perfect)

 

When Cynthia gets to Nashville, she will have been driving for 8 hours. (future perfect)

 

Whee. Here she is in Nashville. She's been on the road for 8 hours. (present perfect)

 

Cynthia has lived in Nashville for 10 years <and still does>. (present perfect)

 

Cynthia lived in Nashville for 10 years <but now lives in Toronto>. (simple past)

 

Note that the past perfect is not the past of the present perfect. If she now lives in Toronto, we say "she lived", we do not say, "she had lived".

 

Is it possible to conjure context that compels, "she had lived"? Yes, of course. If you have enough shoe polish, you can make a polar bear into a brown bear, but as it stands, if she now lives in Toronto we say, "Cynthia lived in Nashville for 10 years".



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