On Sunday, Aug 17, 2003, at 19:50 US/Eastern, Andrew Suffield wrote:
I thought
As a last resort, if you haven't received any offers for a
or
As a last resort, if you didn't receive any offers for a
are the only acceptable forms in my Japanese junior high school days.
Both of these are valid on their own, but the latter conflicts with
the tense of the rest of the paragraph - "haven't received" is recent
past, "didn't receive" is distant past.
I didn't receive any replies by the deadline. [and can't now, because
the deadline was yesterday]
I haven't received any replies. [Though I still may receive some]
"haven't received" is present perfect, no "recent past." A very nice
tense, really.
"A few weeks after registering, if you still haven't received any
offers, then you can send e-mail to
telling them precisely where you live (give the names of some big
cities close to you)."
Alternatively, "If you don't receive any offers within a few weeks of
registering, then you may [not can, you always can]"
Now, "precisely" and some close big cities don't seem to fit together
too well. Maybe, "...telling them precisely where you live as well as
the closest major cities."
