When learning English grammar, understanding sentence structure and word choices can be challenging. One of the common issues learners face is figuring out how to rephrase sentences with similar meaning while maintaining grammatical accuracy. In this case, we’re looking at the sentence:
He denied having cheated at the examination.
And the question is how to rewrite it using a similar structure. Specifically, how can we complete this sentence:
He denied that () () () at the examination.
1. The Structure of the Sentence
To answer this, it’s essential to look at the structure of the sentence. The first sentence uses the form ‘He denied having cheated,’ where ‘having cheated’ is a gerund phrase. This indicates that the action (cheating) occurred before the denial, making it a perfect example of using a gerund.
2. Completing the Sentence Correctly
To maintain the meaning and grammatical correctness, you can complete the sentence in the following way:
He denied that he had cheated at the examination.
This rephrasing uses the past perfect tense ‘had cheated,’ which works because it indicates the cheating occurred before the denial, similar to how the gerund phrase worked in the original sentence.
3. Why ‘had cheated’ Works Here
The use of ‘had cheated’ is appropriate because it refers to an action completed before another past action—in this case, the denial. The past perfect tense is often used when we want to express that one action was completed before another action took place in the past.
4. Key Takeaways
When rephrasing sentences like this, it’s crucial to maintain the sequence of events while adhering to grammatical rules. In this case, ‘he had cheated’ follows the rules of past perfect tense, which reflects that the action of cheating occurred before the denial. This structure helps clarify the timeline of events while retaining the meaning of the original sentence.
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