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How do I change this sentence from the simple present to the past perfect?

 

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  #1  
Old January 24, 2013, 01:04 AM
Yoodle15 Yoodle15 is offline
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How do I change this sentence from the simple present to the past perfect?

"Ud. tiene un problema con la reserva del hotel, dígaselo al gerente."

"Ud había tenido un problema con la reserva del hotel, _____________."

I have no idea how to convert the order in the second part of the sentence to the past perfect. Any help?

Thank you in advance.
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  #2  
Old January 24, 2013, 01:58 AM
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Perikles Perikles is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoodle15 View Post
"Ud. tiene un problema con la reserva del hotel, dígaselo al gerente."

"Ud había tenido un problema con la reserva del hotel, _____________."

I have no idea how to convert the order in the second part of the sentence to the past perfect. .
I'm not sure the task makes much sense. As far as I can see, the present is simply an open conditional and imperative: If....tell the management. Changing this to a past tense is pointless.
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Old January 24, 2013, 03:56 AM
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carlosvilas carlosvilas is offline
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I agree with Perikles...

You could translate it to the past perfect: "dígaselo al gerente" => "se lo dijo al gerente"... but the sentence doesn't make any sense.

Last edited by carlosvilas; January 24, 2013 at 05:20 AM.
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Old January 24, 2013, 08:07 AM
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chileno chileno is offline
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¿Cómo que no?

Esta persona está relatando que había tenido un problema y se lo dijo al gerente.

El problema para mí es que "dígaselo" es Imperativo....

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Old January 24, 2013, 08:14 AM
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carlosvilas carlosvilas is offline
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Quizás si cambiamos la coma (,) por un "y"... la frase tiene sentido...

"Ud había tenido un problema con la reserva del hotel y se lo dijo al gerente"

Aun así, qué ejemplo más raro
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Old January 24, 2013, 12:28 PM
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chileno chileno is offline
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Aún así, parece que uds no usan tanto ese pasado, no?

"Ud había tenido un problema con la reserva del hotel, se lo dijo al gerente, ¿qué más hizo?"

Right?


Last edited by chileno; January 24, 2013 at 09:31 PM.
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Old January 24, 2013, 08:36 PM
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AngelicaDeAlquezar AngelicaDeAlquezar is offline
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@Yoodle: It's natural that you can't put your whole sentence in the past, since the imperative mood does not have a past tense.
If you want a sentence to make sense both in present and in past, you need to use indicative or subjunctive moods.

Otherwise, you should change the meaning and structure of your sentence to make it acquire some sense in the past. Something like: "Usted tuvo problemas con su reservación; debió decírselo al gerente".
In present, you said that since you're having trouble with your booking, so you must tell the manager about it; my sentence in the past says that you had trouble with your booking before, but you didn't tell the manager about it.
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