Douglas Adams
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Editor: Douglas Adams |
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Time subordinators:
By the time Vs. Before: Basically, by the time = before but one thing has to finish happening before something else happens. By the time Tom got home, Jessica had put poison in his food. Jessica had finished poisoning the food before Tom got home. The action in the IC finished happening first; then the action in the DC happened. We can use by the time without the perfect tense if we use a be verb, so is this sentence correct? By the time Tom realized Jessica's plan, it was too late for him. Yes---it had finished being too late for poor Tom before he realized what Jessica had done. What about this example.... By the time Jessica got home, she was buying poison. No---it means Jessica was still buying the poison when she got home, so it's not a finished action. What if we use before? Before Jessica got home, she was buying poison. Legal implications aside, there is no problem with this sentence, and Tom is a goner. Next up... Back to Group two time subordinators. |
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http://www.tesltimes.org |
