Susan is at the factory now. She came to the factory by bus, but she will go home by car.
Do these sentences use the tenses correctly?
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Welcome to ELL, upgrate. It is a rule here that we do not do general 'proofreading' requests; but since your title confines our attention to the tenses, perhaps the community will let this pass. Also, it is essential that you do your best to use spelling, punctuation and capitalization correctly. I will make needed corrections for now; in future, you may do this yourself using the 'edit' link below your question.– StoneyB on hiatusMar 10, 2013 at 14:43
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1Also, I have removed your reference to 'translation'. We don't do translations either; and in any case, we can only tell you whether your sentences are good English.– StoneyB on hiatusMar 10, 2013 at 14:46
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2 Answers
Your sentences are correct as they stand. They do not need changing.
Yes, the sentence is correct except She had come to the factory by bus.
Susan is at the factory now.
Means, she is working in the factory write now.
She had come to the factory by bus, but she will go home by car.
Means, while coming to the factory , she had come by bus and she is going to leave the factory by car.
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2I disagree with your implied position that simple past came to the factory is "incorrect" here. It is possible to use past perfect had come in this example, but there's no reason whatsoever to suggest this is somehow "better". They're both equally valid alternatives. Mar 10, 2013 at 17:46
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2Had come is wrong in this context. The past perfect is used only with reference to some past event or state before which 'she' came to the factory; but the only named event/state which her coming precedes is her presence at the factory now, in the present. Mar 10, 2013 at 19:10
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I don't think past perfect is necessary, but I do agree it sounds better. Jan 17, 2017 at 10:04