Je ne me rappelle pas

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on April 28, 2012 at 7:13pm

Je ne me rappelle pas l'année exacte de la grève a l'usine de Kitchner où travaillait Monsieur M.

 

I cannot recall the exact year of the strike at Kitchener where Monsieur M. has been working.

 

Maybe it should be "travaille" if he is is still working there. Or "a été employé"

"travaillait" seems to imply that he no longer does.

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Permalink Reply by Katerina James on April 28, 2012 at 7:17pm

The sentence talks of a past narrative about the history of Canada. "Travaillait" was the exact word. Well, anyway, thank you again, George..

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Permalink Reply by Katerina James on April 28, 2012 at 7:18pm

had been working?

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on April 28, 2012 at 7:43pm

I think "had been working" might   imply  that he "had been working" prior to a particular event or time.

I don't know the context to this  sentence.

What about just "worked " or "used to work" ?

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Permalink Reply by Charles D on April 28, 2012 at 10:09pm

Since there are no auxiliary words to designate he "had been" or "has been" doing anything, I think that the Kichner factory was just where Monsieur M "worked".

Simple past construction is often used in writing where it may not be so commonly used in speaking.

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