I understood the questions such as; “How are you?” “Where are you from?” and “What’s the time?” but I was unable to hold a conversation and until 2004, I hadn't known how to reply to the latter.”

Hello,

A native speaker (AmE) friend of mine thinks this doesn't sound right, and he's not sure how to explain the problem grammatically.

Could that be possibly correct in BrE, but not in AmE?

Thanks in advance.

I understood the questions such as; “How are you?” “Where are you from?” and “What’s the time?” but I was unable to hold a conversation and until 2004, I hadn't known how to reply to the latter.”

I don't know about the BrE vs. AmE so much (because I don't know what a Brit might or might not say here), but, to my ear, although it doesn't sound quite right—I'd prefer "didn't know" instead of "hadn't known"—it doesn't sound entirely wrong, either. That is, I can certainly imagine it being said, and I certainly wouldn't take umbrage at its use or anything (although, in strict grammatical terms, it seems to be "incorrect").

Is there a grammatically explicable reason why you'd prefer "didn't know" instead?

Is there a grammatically explicable reason why you'd prefer "didn't know" instead?

First, let me boil the sentence down to its essence:

I understood such statements, but I didn’t know how to reply to them until 2004.

This "essence" of the sentence shows more or less why I would prefer "didn't know". There is a simple sequence of tenses: first, "I understood"; then, "I knew how to reply" (which is what the negative + until is basically saying). Because of this simple sequential aspect of the sentence, I prefer "didn't know" ... but again, I don't object to "hadn't known", and don't really think it's incorrect per se.

arkadaşlar bende amerikadan bir arkadaşıma sordum oda şöyle açıkladı:
Firstly, the sentence doesn't make much sense without decent grammar
I understood the questions such as: (colon needed) “How are you?”, “Where are you from?”, (commas needed) and “What’s the time?” but I was unable to hold a conversation and until 2004.(Period needed) I hadn't known how to reply to the latter.” < --- No point to have a quotation mark that doesn't come in a pair or you won't know where the quote begins or end.

arkadaşlar bende amerikadan bir arkadaşıma sordum oda şöyle açıkladı:

By the way, we should be using English in this section of the forum.

Firstly, the sentence doesn't make much sense without decent grammar

What your friend mentions subsequent to this isn't grammar; it's punctuation.

I understood the questions such as: (colon needed) “How are you?”, “Where are you from?”, (commas needed) and “What’s the time?” but I was unable to hold a conversation and until 2004.(Period needed) I hadn't known how to reply to the latter.” < --- No point to have a quotation mark that doesn't come in a pair or you won't know where the quote begins or end.

Your friend is wrong about the colon after "such as" (it doesn't need anything there), as well as about the period after "until 2004". That part of the sentence should either be:

...I was unable to hold a conversation and, until 2004, I hadn't known...

or (without changing a thing)

...I was unable to hold a conversation and until 2004, I hadn't known...

or

...I was unable to hold a conversation and until 2004 I hadn't known...

Your friend is right about everything else, though.

[QUOTE=Ekinny;128412]I understood the questions such as; “How are you?” “Where are you from?” and “What’s the time?” but I was unable to hold a conversation and until 2004, I hadn't known how to reply to the latter.


I think the main problem here is [I]the meaning , it doesn't sound clear as the sentences seem not to convey the idea of what you meant.This is not only because there are grammatical mistakes but also the sentences do not seem to have suitable vocabulary to convey the intended meaning

Can you rewrite it again to express clearly what you mean :))

It's saying that when I was asked "what's the time?" I was unable to respond in English until I learned how to in 2004. I did know what was being asked but not how to reply.

[QUOTE=Ekinny;128412]I understood the questions such as; “How are you?” “Where are you from?” and “What’s the time?” but I was unable to hold a conversation and until 2004, I hadn't known how to reply to the latter.”:confused:


It's saying that when I was asked "what's the time?" I was unable to respond in English until I learned how to in 2004. I did know what was being asked but not how to reply.[/B][/COLOR] THAT'S IT:stretch:

If you had written in this way, things would have been more clear , you have expressed it quite clearly in your sentences above :))

I understood the questions such as; “How are you?” “Where are you from?” and “What’s the time?” but I was unable to hold a conversation and until 2004, I hadn't known how to reply to the latter.”

Hello,

A native speaker (AmE) friend of mine thinks this doesn't sound right, and he's not sure how to explain the problem grammatically.

Could that be possibly correct in BrE, but not in AmE?

Thanks in advance.

Hello Ekinny,

I'm not at all certain what your friend finds wrong with the sentence, especially the use of "hadn't known".

I had seen/saw him around many times but until 2004, I hadn't known his name.