hello :)
I wrote a story with preterit
in that story the man talks of what happened 10 years before (It's a bet, he should be ruined finally when the other man finished his bet , he waives the money)
what are the tenses which I have to use?
so please help me
I don't speak english (every day)it is my second language that's why I asked you that...
What is a preterit?
PRETERIT it is a tense
I use it in: I was young
I went to ...
I bought a present
I know what I wrote doesn't mean anything
Ok. So, the sentence in prentesis, is that the sentence you want in tenses?
I would like to know if I begin my story "The man was remembering how, ten years before, he had given a party..."
I talked of what happened in past perfect or preterit
ex: for the first in solitary confinement he suffered / or / he had suffered
the bet have consequences on the present so what I use ?
I would say "for the first year"
It would be... The man was remembering how ten years ago, he had had a party.
Instead of "given" That's the way I would put it. Yes, there is suppost to be 2 hads right next to each other.
so if i wrote what happened 10 years before i use preterit or past perfect? please...
Preterit is an seldom used term meaning simple past tense. Preterit has a Scrabble score of 10.
Simple past tense is just that.
He suffered is simple past tense
He remembered is simple past tense.
He had remembered is not simple past tense (preterit)
He was remembering is not simple past tense.