Let me give you my own words from two emails ago:
"'Did' substitutes for the simple past verb 'looked,' whereas 'had' is short for the past perfect 'had looked.'"
In other words, "she looked a little better than she did when we dragged her out" is not the same as "she looked a little better than she did look when we dragged her out." The former sentence is syntactically correct, as is "she looked a little better than she had <looked> when we dragged her out" (or, for that matter, "she looked a little better than she looked we we dragged her out.")
For me, the choice of which of these syntactically correct options to use is a rhetorical choice based on context and purpose. Does Parker want to clarify and emphasize the order of events by using the past perfect? Or does he trust that the order of events is clear in context, and does he want to avoid redundancy by using the simple past?
Brian
________________________________________
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Brad Johnston [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, November 11, 2009 9:50 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Taking Allie to breakfast
Got it. Now tell us why either way would work for author Parker, in your own words, not Bruce's.
she looked a little better than she had <looked> when we dragged her out
.brad.11nov09.
--- On Wed, 11/11/09, O'Sullivan, Brian P <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
I don't. Also, I don't think anyone here does. To say that some sentences can use either aspect and still be syntactically correct does not mean that they are interchangeable, that they mean the same thing, or that there is no difference between them.
________________________________________
Please tell us, Brian, in your own words, why you think the past tense and the past perfect tense are interchangeable, why you think they mean the same thing, why you think there is no difference between them.
.brad.11nov09.
--- On Tue, 11/10/09, O'Sullivan, Brian P <[log in to unmask]<[log in to unmask]" target="_blank">http:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
I still think both "did" and "had" are appropriate. "Did" substitutes for the simple past verb "looked," whereas "had" is short for the past perfect "had looked." And both past and past perfect are possible here, for the reasons Bruce explained.
________________________________________
WE TOOK ALLIE TO BREAKFAST in the cook tent. With her dress washed and her hair combed, she looked a little better than she ___ when we dragged her out of the Barbary Coast Cafe'.
Which word should fill the blank in the quote above, had or did?
~~~~~
Incoming message: Both "had" and "did" are okay.
~~~~~
she looked a little better than she did <look> when we dragged her out
she looked a little better than she had <looked> when we dragged her out
Now what do you say?
.rsvp.brad.10nov09.
(she looked a little better than she looked when we dragged her out, is the one Parker did not use)
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list"
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
|
