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Ask for help > Because I had a bath!
Because I had a bath!
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lofthanzaa
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Because I had a bath!
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" Why didn �t you answer the telephone?"
" Because I had a bath"
The response in this sentence is wrong
The correct response is " Because I was having a bath"
Now my question is
Why is the first response wrong?
Can anyone give a grammatical analysis for this case?
Thanks a lot!!
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8 May 2013
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ELOJOLIE274
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i would say because "having a bath" is the time frame when "the telephone rang" happened... this action is longer and started before and stopped after the telephone rang...
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8 May 2013
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pablito88
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When one action is interrupted by another action then you have to use the past continuous - was + verb + ing. You didn �t answer the telephone because you were having a bath, that is you were in the bath when the telephone rang (the action was taking place). If you said I had a bath, then it means that when the phone rang you had finished the bath (and therefore could have answered the phone). |
8 May 2013
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oumsalsabil
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The first response is wrong simply because having a bath is a background action, ie an action that started before the action of not answering the telephone and continued happening even after, so we can �t use the past simple form for this action ; we use the past continuous instead. "Why didn �t you answer the telephone" is correct because this action didn �t start happening at the same time and continued happening sumiltaniously with the background action. It was a brief action that happened in the middle of the background action , so we must use the past simple tense to describe it. Hope MY MODEST grammatical analysis is clear and not confusing. |
8 May 2013
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dutchboydvh
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It also just simply doesn �t answer the question. If the question were "Why is your hair wet?" "Because I had a bath" would then answer the question. It �s like replying to "Why didn �t you answer the phone?" with "Because my socks are green." It may be true, but it �s not an answer to the question. |
8 May 2013
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MarionG
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to add a little grammar to dutchboy �s excellent point, the past simple "had" indicated that you had and finished a bath, maybe hours or days before the phone rang...therefore it really doesn �t explain why you didn �t answer the phone:)
"Because I was in the bath (tub)" would work........ |
9 May 2013
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dillydi
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At the time when the telephone rang you were in the bath, therefore, �having � is the present tense. The use of �had � is past tense and therefore, means that at the time when the telephone rang your bath would have been over.
The sentence that would make more sense would �I was in the bath when you telephoned me �.
Hope that helps....
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9 May 2013
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ueslteacher
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Excellent explanations, everyone! May I just add my two cents:)? You were in the process of having a bath when the telephone rang. Now, if it wasn �t a QA but a statement and you �d have to use the verbs in the correct form, I bet you wouldn �t hesitate to use the continuous (remember? it means duration) here: I .... (have) a bath when you .... (ring) PLUS you�d be really angry if you had to pick it up, wouldn�t you?
Sophia:)
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9 May 2013
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yanogator
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Now, if the reason for not answering was that the telephone was covered in mud, and you didn �t want to soil your just-washed hands, "because I had a bath" would almost work. Unfortunately, it �s only almost, because the correct reply would be "Because I had had a bath". Bruce  |
9 May 2013
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