Apply the past-tense default and see what you get.

From: Geoffrey Layton <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Friday, August 5, 2011 3:47 PM
Subject: Re: The past-tense default

Once again, Brad, I'd like to see your analysis and discussion rather than continuing to encounter questions to which presumably you have answers.

Geoff Layton

Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2011 07:06:45 -0700
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: The past-tense default
To: [log in to unmask]

Geoff,

There are two 'had's in the quote. Apply the past-tense default and see what you get.

What is the past tense of 'to set out'? What is the past tense of 'to catch'?

The fishermen of Punta Umbria set out before dawn, but so far they caught only anchovies and a few bream.

Here's another, also from "Operation Mincemeat".

"A barrister in civilian life, Montagu was a Naval Intelligence officer who had been one of Chapman's handlers, but he was better known as the author, in 1953, of The Man Who Never Was, an account of the deception plan, code-named "Operation Mincemeat", he had masterminded in 1943."

There are two 'had's in the quote. Apply the past-tense default and see what you get.

What is the past tense of 'to be'? What is the past tense of 'to mastermind'?

Try it. See what you get.

.br-had.05aug11.

~~~~~~~

From: Geoffrey Layton <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Friday, August 5, 2011 9:20 AM
Subject: Re: The past-tense default

Brad -

Assume that we need your further expertise - "This example is wrong/right because . . . It should be _________ because . . ."

Geoff Layton

Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2011 06:07:39 -0700
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: The past-tense default
To: [log in to unmask]

Hey, Brad,

Take a look at this one, from "Operation Mincemeat", by Ben Macintyre, c.2009.

"But the weather today was bad for fish spotting. The sky was overcast, and an onshore wind ruffled the water's surface. The fishermen of Punta Umbria had set out before dawn, but so far they had caught only anchovies and a few bream."

.br-had.05aug11.

The past perfect: by the time something happened, something else had already happened.

From: Brad Layton <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thursday, August 4, 2011 9:20 PM
Subject: Re: The past-tense default

At first, I wondered if Brad's example works only because it is in the passive voice. Accordingly, I changed it to active voice.

First, the past perfect:

"Four days later, 76,000 people had viewed Field's video, and more than 800,000 had viewed a shortened clip of the exchange."

And now, the past-tense default:

"Four days later, 76,000 people viewed Field's video, and more than 800,000 viewed a shortened clip of the exchange."

In active voice, the difference between the two (past perfect vs. past) is still evident.

Brad Layton

-----Original Message-----
From: Brad Johnston <[log in to unmask]>
To: ATEG <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thu, Aug 4, 2011 1:03 pm
Subject: The past-tense default

Martha,

"Four days later, Field's video had been viewed by 76,000 people, and a shortened clip of the exchange had been viewed by more than 800,000." (TWP, 03aug11)

My position, crisply stated for Geoff, is that (1) both 'had been's are correct, and (2) you can prove it by applying the past-tense default, in this case "was".

"Four days later, the video was viewed by 76,000 people"? Obviously not what was intended, that on the fifth day, 76,000 people logged on to see something they ignored for the first four days. Ditto for the shortened clip and the 800,000 people.

The past perfect: by the time something happened, something else had already happened.

.brad.04aug11.

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