<p>Tenses are bone crushing …
I really do not know how to determine if past participle or present participle have been placed grammatically correct.</p>
<p>Example Past participle: Had been.
Example Present participle: Has been.</p>
<p>Or like has come… what is this?</p>
<p>Also can someone please explain what tense “has come” is? </p>
<p>Example question:
-By the time the investigators arrive on the scene, the burglars had already made their escape and gotten away without detection or notice from witnesses.</p>
<p>A: By the time
B: Had already made
C: Gotten away
D: From witnesses
E: No error</p>
<p>Answer: B
How is this correct?</p>
<p>And also I have learned that neither … nor and the subject or the object that comes after the nor is only important as in determining if the verb is plural or singular, but this question messed me up… how is this right?</p>
<p>-Neither the architect nor the engineer were able to uncover the mechanical genius of Antonio Gaudi whose structures were as technically sound as they were mysterious.</p>
<p>+Here shouldn’t the “were” that comes after the engineer be “was”?</p>
<p>And lastly how does in a sentence like “Bob hasn’t finished his homework…”
How does “hasn’t” make “finished” into a present tense??</p>
<p>That is all for now, thank you.
Please contribute…</p>
<p>Please thoroughly explain to me these tenses and also how to determine if they are past, present, and future.</p>
<p>The corrected sentence for the first example:</p>
<p>By the time the investigators arrive on the scene, the burglars will have already made their escape and gotten away without detection or notice from witnesses.</p>
<p>The first clause is not in the past tense, so ‘had already made’ is not correct. It should be will have already made.</p>
<p>You are right about the second example. It should be “was.”</p>
<p>“Has not finished” is present perfect tense. The action started some time back in the past and is still continuing. (Bob was given the homework some time back, but he has not finished it yet.) </p>
<p>If the action had started at a certain time in the past and also finished in the past then it would have been past perfect tense. </p>
<p>For example, Samantha had completed the homework before her father arrived home. </p>
<p>Likewise, future perfect tense concerns an action that starts in the future and ends in the future. By this time next year, I will have taken the SAT. For instance.</p>
<p>These are all basic grammar, by the way. :)</p>
<p>do you speak english as a second language? Because this is exactly the problem I’m having in French, so I was just wondering if it’s a learning-second-language thing…</p>
<p>even if English is your first language, an ESL textbook might be helpful if you’re having grammar problems like these- there are ones out there for adults (as opposed to fifthgraders, whose textbooks are just annoying…), you can often get them out of the library, they explain things well. I use them to tutor.</p>
<p>Neither* is* confusing: “The traditional rule also holds that neither is grammatically singular: Neither candidate is having an easy time with the press. However, it is often used with a plural verb, especially when followed by of and a plural: Neither of the candidates are really expressing their own views.” from [neither</a> - definition of neither by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.](<a href=“Neither]neither - definition of neither]neither by The Free Dictionary”>Neither - definition of neither by The Free Dictionary)</p>
<p>With the past tenses you have to keep track of whether something is in the past of the past. Hence “b” is the part of the sentence with the mistake. The first part of the sentence is in the present, so it can’t take the pluperfect which is what “b” is.</p>
<p>BTW I always found tenses the hardest part of learning a new language. At least English hardly uses the subjunctive tense! (Though my sons who take Latin tell me subjunctive is not a tense - it’s a mood. :rolleyes:)</p>