Brad, After reading a lot of your messages in which you argue for a certain perspective on "had" and so on, I believe that you don't understand English tense and aspect. You might want to take some courses in linguistics on these matters. I suggest morphology, syntax, and comparative linguistics. Such courses might provide you with the missing links that make your perspective on tense and aspect so limited and distorted. Eduard ----- Original Message ----- From: Brad Johnston <[log in to unmask]> Date: Monday, September 13, 2010 9:26 Subject: A personal note To: [log in to unmask] > Inbound message: > > > ~~~~~ > > Reply: > > It indicates to me that he wasn't taught it and hasn't thought > about it, so he > doesn't (read: can't) follow a consistent pattern. This argues > for teaching > grammar as a separate discipline, as opposed to the currently- > popular preference > for nudging students toward good grammar in their writing, all > the while not > correcting errors, which to some is "playing gotcha". > > Can quarterbacks and surgeons and chefs and small-engine > mechanics become > proficient without instruction and drill in the basics of their > trades? It makes > no sense to me to imagine that writers can become good at their > trade without > learning the basics. "Here's the ball and here's the club and > you just go out > there and see if you can hit it. He won the Masters last year > but if you > approach your game with confidence, you can beat him." Yeah, right. > > .brad.mon.13sept10.This from an old friend, a graduate of (name > deleted to > protect the guilty) with a degree in English, and a former > editor of the (name > deleted to protect the co-conspirator). Ignore the content. > > "I just got a call from Sam saying Sally had died last week. She > had been > ill for several years, which he said explains why we haven't > heard much from > them. She died in a nursing home where Sam says she got > wonderful care." > > What's interesting to me is that there are two erroneous "hads" > in the first two > sentences, and yet none in the last. > > > > > 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/