New unique communication services in the Dominican Republic.

granca

Bronze
Aug 20, 2007
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Speaking during the event, Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito reported that in the past six years, 1,200 women have been murdered by their spouses or former spouses. He said that 80% of them had not filed complaints to the authorities.

Pray tell me, how did the other 20% report their murder to the authorities? Have Codetel or the Dominican Postal services got a new to me communication services)

The above is a quote from dr1 News on 3rd Novenber.
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
17,850
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Context:
These 'femicide' killings are rarely one-off violent incidents, but the last in a history of violent attacks. The point is that only 20% of the women who were killed by their partners or ex-partners had reported any previous incidents to the authorities.

Grammar:
The 'had not filed' (past perfect) verb tense refers to a previous action. If it had said '80% did not file complaints' (past simple) would have been more ambiguous and could have suggested a subsequent action.

The Past Perfect expresses the idea that something occurred before another action in the past. When you use the Past Simple you have to specify the time (I ate breakfast at 9am) otherwise it could be any time in the past - I ate breakfast.