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    Translation correct?

    Did you like the hotel? - He asked him if he had liked the hotel.

    Source Language Term

    Did you like the hotel?

    Correct?

    He asked him if he had liked the hotel.

    Comment
    Liebe Lions,
    Ich bin nicht sicher mit der Umformung der Zeiten für die indirekte Rede. Die Ausgangsfrage steht im simple past, das wird in der indirekten Rede ja zu past perfect. Aber "has liked" klingt so merkwürdig.. oder stimmt es so?

    Ich danke euch sehr herzlich für die Hilfe!
    AuthorDemandeuse (735773) 13 Mar 19, 23:11
    Comment
    *had liked
    #1AuthorDemandeuse (735773) 13 Mar 19, 23:12
    Comment
    Yes, it's correct.
    #2Authorhm -- us (236141) 14 Mar 19, 01:02
    Comment

    Really? It's surely not what I would say. My personal conjugation is something like this:


    A: Do you like the hotel you are staying at?

    B: A asked him if he liked the hotel he was staying at.


    A: Did you like the hotel that you stayed at?

    B. A asked him if he liked the hotel that he stayed at.


    A: Have you ever liked any hotel you stayed at?

    B: A asked him if he had ever liked any hotel he stayed at.


    Maybe it's not what someone should write on an English grammar test (I really don't know), but that's the way I speak. (And write, for that matter.)


    #3AuthorMartin--cal (272273) 14 Mar 19, 05:02
    Context/ examples

    He asked him if he had liked the hotel


    Comment

    I think that's a matter of context. #3 is correct if the person being asked was staying at the hotel at the time when s/he was being asked, but the OP and #1 are correct if the person had been staying there in the past, or prior to being asked.

    #4Authordude (253248) 14 Mar 19, 06:29
    Comment
    The question 'Did you like the hotel?' implies that the stay is already finished, in the past. So on a grammar test or anywhere else in the standard language, Martin's second pair of Q&A should indeed read 'He asked him if he had liked ...'

    It's also true that the pluperfect is becoming endangered, not only in English but also in other languages. (I remember my Portuguese professor fussing about in the 1980s.) It may well be that many native speakers no longer reliably make the distinction in casual conversation.

    However, when learners ask the question, we should at least be prepared to respond with the answer that will be the most helpful to them, assuming they are still likely to need and value the standard language, not only to pass tests, but because it's worth it for its own sake.
    #5Authorhm -- us (236141) 14 Mar 19, 09:35
    Comment
    Vielen Dank, ihr habt mir alle sehr geholfen! Ich bin froh, dass es grammatikalisch richtig ist und dass ich mit meiner Einschätzung, dass es sich komisch anhört, richtig lag.
    #6AuthorDemandeuse (735773) 14 Mar 19, 12:48
    Comment
    Well, I disagree in part; it's right, so actually it doesn't sound funny. (To me and many others.)
    #7Authorhm -- us (236141) 14 Mar 19, 16:36
     
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