problem with simple past and past perfect. Teacher has another opinion

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stefan - 18 Jan 2007 16:14 GMT

Hi
My son got back his worksheet. In my opinion there are mistakes, the
teacher says it is all right. I know my English is bad, but i like to
understand this. So i have to ask why the answer of the teacher may be
correct (if it really is). I

1. I (cut) my left hand on the car window.
Answer of the teacher:
I had cut my left hand on the car windows

2. Fortunately, Mrs Wilson (not break) anything.
Answer of the teacher:
Fortunately, Mrs Wilson hadn´t broken anything.

3. A police officer asked her, if she (recognize) the famous man who
(help) her and (drive) her into town.
Answer of the teacher:
A police officer asked her, if she had recognized the famous man who had
helped her and had driven her into town.

Please, are these answers correct and why?

Thank you
Stefan

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Einde O'Callaghan - 18 Jan 2007 19:22 GMT

stefan schrieb:

> Hi
> My son got back his worksheet. In my opinion there are mistakes, the
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> Answer of the teacher:
> I had cut my left hand on the car windows

I can see no reason why this should be in the past perfect - unless
there is more context.

> 2. Fortunately, Mrs Wilson (not break) anything.
> Answer of the teacher:
> Fortunately, Mrs Wilson hadn´t broken anything.

Again I can see no reason why this should be in the past perfect -
agfaionh unless there is more context.

> 3. A police officer asked her, if she (recognize) the famous man who
> (help) her and (drive) her into town.
> Answer of the teacher:
> A police officer asked her, if she had recognized the famous man who had
> helped her and had driven her into town.

This is OK - it's indirect speech with the time shift - past tense
becomes past perfect tense in indirect speech if the reporting verb is
in the past tense - there are some exceptions to this where you can
ignore the shift, but the shift is always correct.

Regards, Einde O'Callaghan (English teacher and native speaker)

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stefan - 19 Jan 2007 17:46 GMT

Hello
Thank you very much for the answer! So i can learn and explain it to my son.

Best regards!
Stefan

> stefan schrieb:
>> Hi
[quoted text clipped - 29 lines]
>
> Regards, Einde O'Callaghan (English teacher and native speaker)

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Discussion Groups / ESL Teaching / January 2007

problem with simple past and past perfect. Teacher has another opinion