a. A lot of people visited the condo for three days and then they stopped coming.
b. A lot of people visited the condo for three days and then people stopped coming.
c. A lot of people visited the condo for three days and then it all stopped.
Are these sentences OK?
They are supposed to mean the same. The people (in this context they are potential buyers, but that is not stated in the sentences), who stop coming are not the same as the ones who visited the condo obviously. In other words, I am assuming that each person (potential buyer) visited the place only once.
I think they could all mean the same, but there’s a mistake I think …
With “for three days”, we use the present perfect, so I’d write it like that:
“A lot of people have visited … for three days” or “… have been visiting … for three days”.
I’m not sure with the last one … But I know you have to use the pp with “for” =]
Hello Azz,
I’d say (a) and (b) are OK, but the use of “it” in (c) seems awkward. The word “it” seems to refer to the entire first clause, including “for three days” – and of course that isn’t logical. You might say this instead:
A lot of people visited the condo for three days and then all the visiting stopped.
Simply changing the word order might also be an improvement:
For three days, a lot of people visited the condo, and then it all stopped.
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[size=84]Logic: The art of thinking and reasoning in strict accordance with the limitations and incapacities of the human misunderstanding. ~ Ambrose Bierce[/size]
That is not right. The phrase “for three days” can be used with just about any verb tense – present, past and future. The word “for” does NOT automatically mean that you must use the present perfect:
I am here for three days.
Last month, I visited New York for three days.
They had been sailing for three days when the hurricane hit.
Next week, I will be working at home for three days.
I will help you out for three days, but that’s all I can manage.
I have only been here for three days, so I’m still learning the ropes.
By the time I retire, I will have worked here for forty years.
This is not correct because it does not take the end of the sentence into consideration. The end of the sentence uses the simple past tense and clearly states that people stopped visiting in the past. The use of the present perfect would mean that people have continued to visit up to the present (and that this activity might also continue into the future).
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[size=84]“Whenever the literary German dives into a sentence, that is the last you are going to see of him until he emerges on the other side of his Atlantic with his verb in his mouth.” ~ Mark Twain[/size]