Page 189 - Basic English Usage

191 246 — 247

Past perfect progressive
We use the past perfect progressive to talk about longer actions or
situations, which had continued up to the past moment that we are
thinking about.

When | found Mary, she had been crying for several hours.
e

—[Berone }= «=~ ~“?[past] “> [NOW

if etc
After if, if only, wish and would rather, the past perfect is used to talk
about things that did not happen. (See 165, 167, 367 and 370.)
If | had gone to university | would have studied medicine.
! wish you had told me the truth.

246 perfect tenses with this is the first time ..., etc

We use a present perfect tense after the following expressions:
This/that/it is the first/second/third/fourth/etc
This/that/it is the only .. .
This/that/it is the best/worst/finest/most interesting/etc
Examples:
This is the first time (that) ’ve heard her sing.
(NOT ... thattHhearhersing-)
That's the third time you’ve asked me that question.
(NOT ... thethireHime-yerasiome ..
It's one of the most interesting books I’ve ever read.

When we talk about the past, we use a past perfect tense after the same
expressions.
It was the third time he had been in love that year.
...)
(NOT ... thethireHimehewas

247 personal pronouns (/, me, it etc)

The words /, me, you, he, him, she, her, it, we, us, they and them are
called ‘personal pronouns’. This is not a very good name: these words
are used for both persons and things.