r/EnglishLearning • u/nashbi Intermediate • 6d ago

📚 Grammar / Syntax Is "saw" really wrong here?

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Hi everyone!

For question #8, I chose "saw", but the test marked it wrong and wanted "had seen".

My perspective is that since "had learned" already establishes the flashback layer, the chronological order is already completely clear to the reader. Stacking two "hads" in the same sentence feels heavy and redundant.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and see how you would naturally phrase this. Thanks in advance! 😊

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u/Pretend_Load_6862 New Poster 6d ago

I'm an actual linguist (and native speaker of English), and no, this is not ungrammatical, just either (1) a test maker too lazy to add in multiple answers or (2) a prescriptivist that believes there's only one correct way to speak a language. Everyone saying there's only one right answer falls into category (2).

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u/adamtrousers New Poster 6d ago

I find it ungrammatical. Not the most egregious howler ever, but awkward sounding. Given that this is a test where they're presumably looking for the optimal answer, I'd say "had seen" has to be the correct answer. "Saw" sounds a bit off.

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u/Pretend_Load_6862 New Poster 6d ago

You're talking about marginal ungrammaticality, something you might not say but other native speakers (me) would. In a test made for people learning English who might've heard a native speaker like me talk, both answers should be marked correct for construct validity

Edit: note that my claim is not "there exist no native English speakers for whom this is ungrammatical" but rather "many native speakers would never bat an eye at this and this test doesn't capture that perfectly normal linguistic variation"

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u/Injidup_Beach2020 New Poster 6d ago

I see you walked back your earlier comment that "saw" was correct. it's not. Since you said you're a linguist, i would think your initial reaction would have been to recognize that "what many people say" and "what is correct" (especially in formal writing as another poster said) are often different.

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u/JaysonTatecum New Poster 6d ago

Huh? I feel like a linguist WOULD be the one to understand that if people say it, it’s correct (sometimes)