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Issue For September 17, 2004

Writing Question of the Week

This is from /Dragon Seed/ by Pearl S. Buck (page 18).

"Sell it," she had said. "It will buy me a pair of earrings." "Do you want earrings?" he had asked her in surprise. "But your ears are not pierced." "I can pierce them," she had said. "I will buy you the earrings," he had answered her, "but not with your own hair."

Question 1: Why did the author use the *past perfect* form (she */had said/* or he /*had asked*/)?

Question 2: How would the meaning change if the author used the *simple past* form (she /*said */or he /*asked*/)?

Sincerely, Tommy

Answer:

Hello Tommy,

My assumption is that the use of past perfect is a literary convention here. Past perfect is a verb tense used often in epic works to indicate a great temporal distance between past and present. We know that we use past perfect to indicate that the action is completed before another event in the past. So, past perfect is used to indicate a certain temporal vagueness - which is to say that the events took place in a very remote past.

I would say that the meaning would not have changed with the use of past tense. However, it would bring a different information (nuance) about the time of the narration and refer to an action whose completion is probably closer to the present. Simple past tense is used to indicate a completed action or condition, so this means that on a temporal axis events take place closer to the present.

Hope this helps, Oana, OWL instructor

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Last Week's Question

What do you think of the current use of "absent" as a preposition? I know it's an adjective and means "missing" or "not present," but it sounds awkward to me to say "Absent his approval, the project cannot go forward." Or, "Absent a down payment, you can't buy this property." I feel it's artificial and too trendy. I teach Composition and Technical Communications, and I'm not sure what to advise my students.

Response:

As strange as it sounds, "absent" is also a preposition and can be used correctly in the above sentences. It's from legal language, but the usage appears to be expanding. --Suzanne Mantha

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