The film was released in the United States by Universal Pictures in a limited release on December 16, 2005, followed by a wide release on December 25. It garnered generally mixed reviews from critics and was a commercial failure, earning $38 million worldwide from a $45 million budget. [2] Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast The Past Perfect or The Past Simple Fill the gaps with the verb in brackets using either the past perfect or the past simple tenses. 1. By the time we got to the cinema the film (to start), so we missed the first five minutes. 2. When I rang the bell there was no answer. The neighbour told me that they (to go out) about half an hour ago. 3. There was no attendant to check our tickets or show us which theatre to go to. We got inside to find someone sitting in our seats so we had to find new ones. Our waiter was alright but you could tell he was ready to get off. We waited 40 minutes for our food to be brought to us. I had to push the call button on the seat to get him to come back. 11. "All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain." —Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty in Blade Runner (1982) 12. "Get away from her, you bitch!" —Sigourney Weaver as Ripley in Aliens We're "them". We're "they". We are the Men in Black. Men in Black is a 1997 film about a street-smart cop from the New York City Police Department who is recruited by a veteran government agent to a secret government agency that monitors and polices alien activity on Earth, unbeknownst to the public. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. By the time we got to the theater, the movie had already started. Yesterday I went on my first plane trip. I was very nervous because I had never flown before. I couldn't eat much dinner last night because I had ate such a big lunch. Last week our teacher gave back the essays we had written the week before. The house was quiet when Andrew got home. O6clH. [ Past Perfect and Past Perfect Continuous ]The film….. by the time we got to the was startedB. had startC. has startedD. had startedSelect your answer A B C D E Random Topics Comparative Adverb Simple Present Tense Pronoun CasesTenseAdjectives & PrepositionsWh-QuestionModal and Relative PhrasesCOUNT - NONCOUNT NOUNSVerbs - third personOther quiz Grammar › Viewa ________of crowA. flockB. hostC. groupD. herd Grammar › …………………………. networking courses for two years when he was promoted to be a had takenB. had been takingC. have been takingD. could have takenHow to use Read the question carefully, then select one of the answers button. report this ad Fill the gaps with the verb in brackets using either the past perfect or the past simple By the time we got to the cinema the film to start, so we missed the first five When I rang the bell there was no answer. The neighbour told me that they to go out about half an hour I saw Casablanca for the first time last night. I to see it I feel fat. I to have a huge I spent a week in Miami recently. I to not be there There was so much to see in Toledo. I to plan to see everything but there wasn't enough If I to know about the concert, I would have If you to take my advice, it wouldn't have We would have had an argument, if she to mention If you to not park there, you wouldn't have got a parking They found the body on a building site. It to mutilate "in the passive!".12. She told me she to buy a new When he arrived, Eve wasn't there. She to leave about five minutes When we arrived in Spain, they to lose our luggage. We only had to wait to two days to get it back though, and they delivered it to the When I to get back, nobody had done the washing up. I was furious. [ Grammar ]The film __________ by the time we got to the was startedB. had startC. has startedD. had startedSelect your answer A B C D E Random Topics Pronoun CasesDirect vs. Indirect SpeechThis, That, These, ThoseNouns FormationPassive Voice Active VoicePresent Simple vs Past SimpleActive & PassivePresent simple & ContinuousIndirect SpeechOther quiz Grammar › ViewShe has been working for this company ___ 20 sinceB. forC. yet Grammar › ViewI __________you sooner had someone told me you were in the would have visitedB. visitedC. had visitedD. visitHow to use Read the question carefully, then select one of the answers button. report this ad 1 1. By the time the police arrived, the two men had disappeared. 2. By the time the police had arrived, the two men had disappeared. According to the key to one of the exercises in English Grammar in Use, both are possible, but I really fail to see why. It makes no sense to me use the past perfect twice and therefore I would say 1. In fact, the author gives a few example sentences, and he never uses the past perfect twice in conjunction with “by the time” By the time she arrived, most of the other guests had left. By the time we got to the cinema, the film had already started. So, is 2 wrong? Thank you in advance. 2 I had a nice neat answer to this, which is that we often don't use the past perfect when it's logically possible to, and just use the simple past, as long as the time relationship is clear. However, looking at it again, you're right - why is the past perfect used there? It is quite correct; 2 sounds quite natural; but I can't justify the time sequence. It suggests I'm now speaking at 10 of a past time 9 and at that time the police had already arrived at 8 but before then the two men had disappeared at 7 But what is the 9 time point doing in this sequence? Then I thought about the present/future equivalent. The same sort of idiom is possible 1a. By the time the police arrive, the men will have escaped. 2a. By the time the police have arrived, the men will have escaped. Again, 1a is correct, though 2a is also idiomatic but not very logical. As the simple event 'arrive' is sufficient, why should we talk about the state 'have arrived'? 3 2a sounds better to me. The time is defined like this it is the time when we can say "the police have arrived". The time reference has changed, and the present is irrelevant. If you want to be very legalistic, you can say "When the police shall have arrived, the men shall have escaped". 4 Thank you entangledbank and se16teddy. However, looking at it again, you're right - why is the past perfect used there? It is quite correct; 2 sounds quite natural; but I can't justify the time sequence. That was my point indeed. In 'By the time the police arrived, the two men had disappeared' we have a time sequence that makes sense. - First wwo mean disappear. - Later the police arrive. This is just standard usage of the past perfect. However, the same doesn't hold true for 'By the time the police had arrived, the two men had disappeared.' 1a. By the time the police arrive, the men will have escaped. 2a. By the time the police have arrived, the men will have escaped. Again, 1a is correct, though 2a is also idiomatic but not very logical. As the simple event 'arrive' is sufficient, why should we talk about the state 'have arrived'? Actually, I don't find these all that problematic. They seem similar to, 'I'll give you my address when I find / have found somewhere to live.' Here the present simple and the present perfect have the same meaning. Do you agree that his is a similar case? Last edited Oct 9, 2012 5 Actually, I don't find these all that problematic. They seem similar to, 'I'll give you my address when I find / have found somewhere to live.' Here the present simple and the present perfect have the same meaning. Do you agree that his is a similar case? In the case of your original two sentences, I think that both are acceptable in AE and that the meaning is the same. I prefer the first variant. 1a. By the time the police arrive, the men will have escaped. 2a. By the time the police have arrived, the men will have escaped. Again I think that both are acceptable and that the meaning is the same. I have a slight preference for the first. In the case of your last sentence I'll give you my address when I find / have found somewhere to live., the two variants are the same for me. 6 Hi guys, I'll write here because the main topic is quite the same. My grammar book advanced grammar in used by Martin Hewings says that this sentence "I'll probably have finished breakfast by the time the children got up" is wrong. At first, I thought that it was incorrect because of the use of "got up".I would have written "I'll probably have finished breakfast by the time the children get up". Instead the key answer is" ... the children have got up." Do you think that my attempt could be correct as well? thank you 7 Your attempt sounds fine to me, Giuggiola, as does 'have got up', of course. It could be argued, however, that there is a slight nuance between the two 'have got up' may suggest that the children are already up and downstairs in the kitchen wanting their breakfast, whilst 'get up' could be understood to mean that the children are still in the process of getting up. A very fine line too fine to be of much importance, in my opinion. 8 Thank you london calling 9 I would use only "get up" here; "have got up" sounds very weird to me. 10 I would use only "get up" here; "have got up" sounds very weird to me. That's because it's BE, probably. We do use the perfect tenses more than you, generally speaking of course. 11 "By the time we had digested this information we seemed to have come a long way from our starting point of GM. But then we asked what if VRSA got into a genetically-modified crop? What would be a possible outcome?" Ronan Bennett The conspiracy to undermine the truth about our GM drama Personally I believe that digested simple past works better in the sentence than had digested past perfect. Have I understood correctly? Thank you 12 Not better, but maybe a possible alternative The use of "had" is the typical use to place some event further in the past than something else in the past. The sentence tells of events in a time sequence and is followed by another "But then ..." continuing the sequential placement of events in a storyline. By the way, there's no reason a VRSA gene getting into a GM crop is any more likely than it would into a "non-GM" crop, so the concern should be about VRSA and not GM, but that's a separate issue If it were done deliberately, we are then in a "James Bond evil antagonist and nucear weapons in space" type of plot EEk 13 Not better, but maybe a possible alternative The use of "had" is the typical use to place some event further in the past than something else in the past. The sentence tells of events in a time sequence and is followed by another "But then ..." continuing the sequential placement of events in a storyline. By the way, there's no reason a VRSA gene getting into a GM crop is any more likely than it would into a "non-GM" crop, so the concern should be about VRSA and not GM, but that's a separate issue If it were done deliberately, we are then in a "James Bond evil antagonist and nucear weapons in space" type of plot EEk I see, thank you so much for your explanation, JulianStuart 14 1. By the time the police arrived, the two men had disappeared. 2. By the time the police had arrived, the two men had disappeared. According to the key to one of the exercises in English Grammar in Use, both are possible, but I really fail to see why. It makes no sense to me use the past perfect twice and therefore I would say 1. In fact, the author gives a few example sentences, and he never uses the past perfect twice in conjunction with “by the time” By the time she arrived, most of the other guests had left. By the time we got to the cinema, the film had already started. So, is 2 wrong? Thank you in advance. Hi guys, first time here so expect some slip ups. I believe that When we use the past perfect the correct usage is to emphasise that a previous action had "Already" ocurred before another in the past. So we might say that it's the most previous past that exists. Therfore, when we use the first two examples with the police the only reason why 2 may sound right is because in our minds we are using n1, this is to say, by the time the police arrived they had already disappeared. so subconsciously we know the first verb should be past simple...i mean... if we use "already" as a mark and say; by the time the police already arrived they had already disappeared...we may only use 1 "already" optionally, as one action has to be before the other and that action is the past perfect where the "already" could be used. with the past simple "already" shouldn't be used here. Not with the simple past. So personally I deduct that the correct form can only be the 1st. Hope I haven't Complicated things further Thanks

by the time we got to the cinema the film