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The report came two days before European Union....which comes first "The report came two days before European Union summit expected to discuss the Greek debt crisis." Which event happened at first, the report or the expectation?

Answers · 5

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The report came out first, two days before the planned summit meeting where they expected to discuss the debt crisis. The article you're quoting from was written before the meeting happened, so it refers to what they were expecting to discuss at the meeting.
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Let's use some concrete dates to explain this. The European Union summit was expected to discuss the Greek debt crisis on 3 October. The report came out on 1 October. The report came out two days before the European Union summit was expected to discuss the Greek debt crisis. Please note that it should be "came out" or "arrived". "The report came"is quite awkward and unclear. It is better to use "was expected", as the agenda of the summit is usually made public in advance and the summit participants are expected by everyone in the world to follow the agenda. The specific answer to your question is: technically the EXPECTATION would have been formed before the arrival of the report, but the "expected" in the sentence does NOT refer to the formation of the expectation but the SCHEDULED DATE for the discussion of the crisis.
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before European Union summit expected to discuss the Greek debt crisis,the report had come
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they had a report, then expected to talk....in my opinion (I am reading your sentence again feeling as if reading a tongue twister) :D

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