Grammar problems that I cannot solve
Hey everyone, I’m sorry but I have some questions which I’m not able to find answers to:
I have a sentence: She misses the day when se earned a living by selling ice-cream.
Can I say: She misses the time when she earned a living selling ice-cream. Can I remove the by; and replace the days by the time? Is it the same meaning, is there significant differences?
Also, I have two other different sentences: -My boss wishes he had not promised her that post, which she doesn’t want anymore.
-I wish you did not have so many problems.
Why can’t I say: I wish you had not so many problems. (As in the first sentence) or My boss wish he didn’t promise her that post, which she doesn’t want anymore. (as in the second sentence)
It feels like the difference between hadn’t and didn’t is a schoolchild knowledge, but It looks like I’ve forgotten it.
Finally, another sentence: I wish you had brought me the book you told me about yesterday. Why isn’t it I wish you had bring me the book you told me about yesterday. My lessons say that when one wants to express regrets, we use wish + preterit, I can’t understand why would anyone write brought, it sounds better indeed but I cannot know why.
Thanks a lot!
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Grammar problems that I cannot solve
Hey everyone, I’m sorry but I have some questions which I’m not able to find answers to:
I have a sentence: She misses the day when se earned a living by selling ice-cream.
Can I say: She misses the time when she earned a living selling ice-cream. Can I remove the by; and replace the days by the time? Is it the same meaning, is there significant differences? Yes, this is absolutely fine and it means the same thing. You could even remove "when" and it would be correct, too.
Also, I have two other different sentences: -My boss wishes he had not promised her that post, which she doesn’t want anymore.
-I wish you did not have so many problems.
Why can’t I say: I wish you had not so many problems. (As in the first sentence) I think you can say this, but "had not" can also imply the problems being in the past, whereas "did not" is implying that it is in the present.
or My boss wishes he didn’t promise her that post, which she doesn’t want anymore. (as in the second sentence) Same as before, I think you can say this, but "hadn't promised her that post" would be better.
didn't = past tense
hadn't = past perfect tense. It describes an action (promising her the post), which happened before another past action (her not wanting it/refusing it).
It feels like the difference between hadn’t and didn’t is a schoolchild knowledge, but It looks like I’ve forgotten it.
Don't worry, I know it can be difficult to learn.
Finally, another sentence: I wish you had brought me the book you told me about yesterday. Why isn’t it I wish you had bring me the book you told me about yesterday. My lessons say that when one wants to express regrets, we use wish + preterit, I can’t understand why would anyone write brought, it sounds better indeed but I cannot know why.
"If you had brought me the book" (past conditional) implies that the person could have/wanted to read it that day (the present).
Thanks a lot!
Hope this helps.
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