Timeline for Before the train [had] stopped
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
8 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 12 at 2:16 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | I can't remember the last time I saw any text written by a learner here that failed to use Past Perfect when it was necessary (or even desirable). Learners seem to have no trouble understanding when they can use it. What they're not so good at is recognizing when they don't need it, and/or it's stylistically clumsy. | |
| Nov 11 at 23:03 | comment | added | Michael Harvey | Doors that opened with a handle could also be used by people trying to jump on a train as it was leaving a station, this is probably more dangerous (the train is gaining speed, not losing it) and people were dragged, or fell, under trains, with deplorable consequences. Foreign visitors could not understand why such a dangerous thing was still allowed. | |
| Nov 11 at 22:44 | comment | added | James K | @FumbleFingers agree, it's not required, but it's not wrong, and this is a perfectly normal and natural use of the past perfect. | |
| Nov 11 at 22:20 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | Although you can logically justify it, I think the Perfect verb form is completely unnecessary in X happened before Y [had] happened contexts, since the sequence of events is already made explicit by the word before. If you don't need the more complex verb form, don't use it. | |
| Nov 11 at 20:59 | vote | accept | prof1589 | ||
| Nov 11 at 20:56 | comment | added | Michael Harvey | A typical sight at a London terminus in the morning rush hour up to the 1990s was a 'slam-door' train entering a platform and all of the doors (and there were lots) opening at once and commuters jumping out while the train was still moving. A number of widely publicised deaths led to legislation requiring door locking system interlocked with the driver's controls so that the train could not move while it was possible to open any doors. Of course these doors were hinged like the ones on a car. Modern trains have power-operated sliding doors under the control of the driver or guard. | |
| Nov 11 at 20:47 | comment | added | James K | Of course, with modern trains, this is impossible. The doors don't open until after the train has stopped. With older trains, the doors didn't lock and could easily be opened while the train was moving. | |
| Nov 11 at 20:46 | history | answered | James K | CC BY-SA 4.0 |