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From Kansas City toTulsa: towards Happiness ? (2/2)
After working a lot on the past tenses (especially the past perfect) and futures et conditionals, in the first part of this text test, we are, of course, going to revise these notions. Today, we'll work on the infinitive clause expressing wishes and will power.
1) The tenses of the past : Remember, the tense of narration is the simple past
ex : Jesse tried to persuade his brother-in-law to give him a well-paid job.
* If an action took place before a simple past, it must be in the past perfect simple (or in the past perfect en -ing if we insist on the duration of the action ) :
had + verb in the past participle or had + been + verb + ing
ex: Jesse had been walking for more than two weeks to finally find a job.
* If you need to use a future, remember that it doesn't get on well with the past 
...
If we must use it, or the conditional, anyway BEWARE ! After a temporal conjunction (after, before, when, while, once, as long as, as soon as, the future is impossible : the future is replaced by the present (and the conditional is replaced by the preterite.)
ex : As soon as he arrived in Tom's office, Jesse knew that Tom would be difficult to persuade ...
You'll have to use the conditional : would + verb
ex : Jesse would be happy if Tom accepted !
2) To express a desire, a wish, or a willpower, when 'to want' applies to an only person, you must remember that it is directly followed by the infinitive.
ex : Jesse wants to have a job at all cost!
ex : Jesse doesn't want to feel humiliated any longer...
* It becomes a little more 'complicated' when another person is involved !
ex : Jesse would want his kids to have opportunities in life!
The word separating the 2 verbs is the subject of the second verb (his kids) but takes the form of a complement ( 'them' and not 'they'!)
In English, 'the infinitive clause' MUST be used after the verbs expressing a will power, a refusal;
A subordinate introduced by 'THAT' is IMPOSSIBLE: ( hate, like, love, prefer, wish). ('I want that ...' est impossible.)
ex : I want you to put a part of the money I'll earn aside for my family, and I wish you not to give details about my job ...
We have left Jesse battling for a job, and Tom, his brother-in-law, slowly realizing what Jesse was planning ... Tom was torn between Jesse's craving for this deadly job and his love for his sister and nephews ... He was at a loss, facing a dilemma ...
This terrible story was inspired to me by The Happiest Man in the World by Albert Maltz. 
BE CAREFUL ! It would be a good idea to have a pause ( don't forget to save what you've done ! ) in the middle of this test! It's not difficult, but it's long ! 
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