<p>alright, thanks to those who take the time to explain these.</p>
<p>First of all-should it be had ran/had run? And is there a rule for every verb-such as swim as well?</p>
<ol>
<li>Mr. Hanson proudly demonstrated his company’s latest cell phone, a model that flashes the time in color-coded numerals when pressing a button.</li>
</ol>
<p>the incorrect phrase is “pressing a button”. I got it write, but I dont understand gramatically why it is correct. Could you provide an example of some error similar?</p>
<ol>
<li>Annual visitors to new york city’s central park number almost ten times that of mount rushmore.
error is that of mount rushmore-I also got this right, but want to make sure the explanation is correct.
So, the comparison should be between annual visitors in nyc and annual visitors at MR. NOT BETWEEN the number, right? so it shoudl be ten times those?</li>
</ol>
<p>‘Pressing a button’ implies the cell phone itself is pressing the button which is incorrect.</p>
<p>Example (From Blue Book): Ms. Kovak proudly displayed her research group’s most ingenious invention, a vacuum cleaner that empties its own dust bag when pressing a button</p>
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<p>Yes it is an illogical comparison, and it should read ‘Mount Rushmore’s annual visitors’</p>
<p>I’m pretty confident with my answers, but I would wait for Silverturtle/Crazybanadit for further information or approval of mine.</p>
<p>First question has to do with past participle. Basically whenever you use have/had + a verb, that verb needs to be in past participle form. Most past participles are the same as their past tense (I read the book, I have always read books,) but there are a lot of exceptions. Run and swim are examples.</p>
<p>I run to the park.
I ran to the park yesterday.
I have run to the park when I am sad.</p>
<p>Just chiming in, adding to the post above me, there’s not much you can do except memorize those exceptions (e.g. swim, run, throw, drink, think, etc.) and try to think of what you’ve heard in everyday speech if you get stuck.</p>