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How do I change this sentence from the simple present to the past perfect?This is the place for questions about conjugations, verb tenses, adverbs, adjectives, word order, syntax and other grammar questions for English or Spanish. |
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#1
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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
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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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#3
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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. |
#4
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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.... |
#5
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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 |
#6
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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. |
#7
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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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