Are these sentences correct?

Alles zu den englischen Zeiten im Aktiv und Passiv.
Questions on tenses (Active and Passive).
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Nikolai
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Are these sentences correct?

Beitrag von Nikolai »

Hello
I invented this short story, which has nothing to do with reality, to practice the tenses. Can you correct it please?I was already in Saudi Arabia for three weeks five years ago, even though I had had many bad prejudices towards Arabic people before I have attended an Arabic country. I had a great time. Nevertheless I would say at that time that I'll never come back, because it's too difficult to get a visa but now I'm going to fly to Saudi Arabia again for 2 weeks tomorrow. I'm sure that I'm going to have a great time and that I will have picked up some of the Arabic culture and language, when I'm back at home. At the moment I'm packing my bags for the travel.
Edit:
Sorry but for some reason the computer always deletes the line breaks.




Keswick
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Re: Are these sentences correct?

Beitrag von Keswick »

Nikolai hat geschrieben:Hello

I invented this short story, which has nothing to do with reality, to practice the tenses. Can you correct it please?

I already was in Saudi Arabia for three weeks five years ago, and despite having many bad prejudices towards Arabic people before I have going to an Arabic country, I had a great time. Still, at that time, I would say that I'd never go back, because it was too difficult to get a visa. But now I'm going to fly to Saudi Arabia again for 2 weeks tomorrow. I'm sure that I'm going to have a great time and that I will have picked up some of the Arabic culture and language, by the time I will come back at home. At the moment I'm packing my bags for the travel.

Edit:
Sorry but for some reason the computer always deletes the line breaks.
Bitte keine Korrektur- / Erklärungsanfragen per PN.
British English (BE) Sprecher.

Nikolai
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Re: Are these sentences correct?

Beitrag von Nikolai »

Thank you for your correction. I have some questions.
Keswick hat geschrieben: I already was in Saudi Arabia for three weeks five years ago
I always thought that I have to put the adverb after the verb if the verb is a form of 'to be'.
... because it was too difficult to get a
visa. ...
To get the visa wasn't only difficult at that time. It is difficult today as well and it will be difficult in the future. If it is a fact thats difficult to get a visa then I have to use present tense, I guess.

Keswick
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Re: Are these sentences correct?

Beitrag von Keswick »

Nikolai hat geschrieben:Thank you for your correction. I have some questions.
Keswick hat geschrieben: I already was in Saudi Arabia for three weeks five years ago
I always thought that I have to put the adverb after the verb if the verb is a form of 'to be'.

Ich korrigiere ich wie spreche. Es ist richtig, dass "already" idR nach dem Verb BE kommt, daher ziehe ich meine Korrektur gerne zurueck. Obwohl richtig, klingt "already" nach dem Verb BE falsch und wird an sich (auch wenn falsch) so selten verwendet (in BrE, in AmE ist es normal). Im BrE wuerde ich den Satz auch ins Present Perfect setzen. Mir fehlt hier die Information, ob du AmE oder BrE schreibst.
... because it was too difficult to get a
visa. ...
To get the visa wasn't only difficult at that time. It is difficult today as well and it will be difficult in the future. If it is a fact thats difficult to get a visa then I have to use present tense, I guess.
Aus deinem Text wird leider ueberhaupt nicht ersichtlich, ob sich die Visabestimmungen vereinfacht haben. Deine Visainformation bezieht sich auf deinen ersten Besuch in Saudi Arabien, daher was. Wenn es heute noch ebenso schwierig ist, dass fuege diese Information in deinen Satz ein und du kannst is stehen lassen.
Bitte keine Korrektur- / Erklärungsanfragen per PN.
British English (BE) Sprecher.

tiorthan
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Re: Are these sentences correct?

Beitrag von tiorthan »

Keswick hat geschrieben: Ich korrigiere ich wie spreche. Es ist richtig, dass "already" idR nach dem Verb BE kommt, daher ziehe ich meine Korrektur gerne zurueck. Obwohl richtig, klingt "already" nach dem Verb BE falsch und wird an sich (auch wenn falsch) so selten verwendet (in BrE, in AmE ist es normal). Im BrE wuerde ich den Satz auch ins Present Perfect setzen. Mir fehlt hier die Information, ob du AmE oder BrE schreibst.
Generally, even in American English, I'd use "I have already been".
Wenn es heute noch ebenso schwierig ist, dass fuege diese Information in deinen Satz ein und du kannst is stehen lassen.
Nope, not even then because:

Context is important. The context of a subordinate clause is always the respective main clause. If the context has been defined as past or present, the only way to move from past to present or vice versa is to explicitly state a time. Since the "because" part (the subordinate clause) states no time, it remains within the context set by the main clause which, due to "at that time" is a clear past.
You're never too old to learn something stupid.
MistakeSuggestionYou sure that's right?

Keswick
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Re: Are these sentences correct?

Beitrag von Keswick »

tiorthan hat geschrieben: Generally, even in American English, I'd use "I have already been".
Wenn "have been" steht wuerde ich auch have already been verwenden, aber die verwendete Zeitform ist "was", in AE als "already was" extrem gebraeuchlich. Daher meine Korrektur und die Frage welche Zeitform verwendet werden soll, i.e. welches Englisch verwendet wird.
Bitte keine Korrektur- / Erklärungsanfragen per PN.
British English (BE) Sprecher.

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