之所以想要谈谈had expected/hoped等类似的使用问题，主要是最近看到赵振才教授的名著P1111一位读者连续的两个疑问，我觉得很值得拿出来说说：

Where on earth have you been? We_______ you back much earlier.

这位读者认为选D，赵老认为不能选D，只能选B。

我先谈谈到底能不能选D。（我后面会介绍为什么选B肯定是正确的）

题目中语境是发生在现在时刻的一个对话，背景是指现在，had expected是过去完成，是过去的过去，表示的是过去的“过去的期望”没有实现（有点绕口），所以不能选。赵老的意思我理解是这样。

而这位读者的意思是“过去完成的had expected表示“过去的期望”没有实现，所以在这个语境下也能用。

哪一个有道理？赵老列举了很多例子，我不再重复，我列举一些支持他观点的例句（hope和expect关于此的用法基本一样）：

I had hoped to send him a telegram to congratulate him on his marriage, but I didn't manage it.

I had hoped that Jennifer would study medicine, but she didn't want to.

We had hoped to organize a trip to the theatre tonight, but it didn't come off.

That was something I hadn't expected.

We had expected to arrive an hour late, but in the event we were early.

No one else had expected the factory to close, but we saw it coming.

He had expected her to be horrified, but she was actually very understanding.

毫无疑问，赵老的解释是合理的，这样的例句很多很多。

但是也有很多例句是这样的，如下：

I had hoped we would leave tomorrow, but it won't be possible.

We had hoped to fill the back page with extra news; we're not quite there yet.

We had hoped to finish it today, but as it is we probably won' t finish until tomorrow.

You disappoint me; I had expected you to behave more responsibly.

If you miss someone, you notice that they are not in a place where you had expected to see them.

They had expected a pay raise in line with inflation.

I had expected something of the kind might happen.

The problem is rather more complicated than we had expected.（注意这句）

Our success is much behind what I had hoped. （注意这句）

We had hoped to finish this work by the end of this month, but there is no hope of doing so now.

Mr Major had hoped to spend this week celebrating his election victory but now he is fighting for his political life.

I had hoped that we should be able to stay with Jim and Alice for the week-end, but now I learn that they will not be at home.

We had hoped to get there before dark, but that now appears unlikely.

I had hoped that a solution to this problem would be possible. (= I now realise that it is not possible.)

Although my qualifications are outlined in the resume, l would like to say that l am particularly interested in this job. I have been looking for something interesting and unusual, and this job sounds like what I had hoped to find. I enjoy meeting people, and I get along well with almost everyone.（New English 900）

[to Mr. Nikzad] I hadn't expected such a big turnout. Thanks for the story.(New english 900中的一个对话)

这些例句很明显，事件发生的背景语境是现在，不是过去，但是仍然用的had hoped/expected，这是怎么回事？

实际上，过去完成时的had hoped/expected不一定都是表示“过去时语境下，过去没能实现的希望（英式英语）”，也可以表示“现在此时的语境下，过去没能实现的希望”(可能是美式英语)，上面的例句说明了这一点。

“用过去完成主要表示落空了的期望和想像中的错误，是为了叙述某件事采用过去完成时代替了过去时，并不表示过去的过去。”

英美语惯用法实用词典P566给出了关于此问题的详细解释,有兴趣可以看看。

回到上面的题目中来，所以D选项had expected是可以的，极大可能是美式用法，赵老过分强调过去完成时的“过去的过去”的意义，但这并不符合当代的英语使用习惯。注意：上题是一个对话，had要重读。重读在对话中的体现也很能反映说话人的意图。

B答案用过去进行时也是对的，亚历山大在其名著中有这样的描述：“The past perfect for unfulfilled hopes and wishes We can use the past perfect (or the past simple or progressive) with verbs like expect，hope, mean, suppose, think, want, to describe things we hoped or wished to do but didn't”。

按照亚历山大所说，过去完成，过去式或过去进行时都能表示“过去的期望”未能实现，那是不是可以直接换用？

实际上不是这样，同样也是要看语境。比如上面的题中，语境背景是“现在”的一个对话，用过去时expected或是过去进行时were expecting都可以表示“过去的期望没能实现”，也就是说上面那题用expected也是可以的，只是没有这个选项。

再比如：

The repairs to our car cost much more than we were expecting.（现在的语境下用过去进行时，表示过去的期望“花费少”没能实现，事实是花费很多）

Our new car cost us a shade more/less than we were expecting it to. （现在的语境下用过去进行时，表示过去的期望没能实现）

We were expecting him home again any day now. （现在的语境下用过去进行时，表示过去的期望没能实现，事实是 “他还没有回家”）

We were expecting to win, so a draw was a disappointing result for us.（过去的语境下用过去进行时，只表示纯粹的一种过去期望，We were expecting to win这句看不出赢了还是没赢）

I expected to find him. 如果这一句是在一个过去时的语境背景之中，那这里的expected就只纯粹表达一种过去的期望，找不找得到him未知。

I expected to find him in the bar，but he wasn’t there.（这一句就是在一个过去时的语境背景之中，expected就只纯粹表达一种过去的期望，而but he wasn’t there说明没找到）

再看下面这一句做比较（用完成时意义就很不同了）：

I had expected to find him. = I expected to have found him.( 表示I expected to find him, but was disappointed.)

下面四个句子都是在过去时的语境之中:

We were expecting thirty people to come, but half of them never showed up.

We expected thirty people to come, but half of them never showed up.

We had expected thirty people to come, but half of them never showed up.

We expected thirty people to have come, but half of them never showed up.

这四句大概意思一样,但是有细微的区别。

在一个“现在时刻的背景下”用一般过去时表示“某种希望或是想象并没有实现”这种用法其实很多见，并不限于上面说的动词，可以梳理一下，类比一下，举例如下：

But you promised. ..! (not But you have promised...)

I knew you would help me! (not I have known ...)

It’s time you were in bed. (‘but you’re not in bed’)

I'd rather you paid me now.

He behaves as if he owned the place. (‘but he doesn’t own the place’)

It’s not as if you were all that fond of Alice. (‘You’re not fond of Alice’)

Suppose (that) the United Nations had the power to impose a peaceful solution. (‘It does not have the power …’)

Suppose we went to a show.

这里面还有一个问题很有意思，顺便说一下，有人说，一般过去时或是过去进行时有一种表示“礼貌委婉的请求或是提问”，用的是过去时但是语境是指现在，不是指过去，比如：

I thought you might like some flowers.（might是may的过去时，用might是因为间接引语要保持时态一致，实际上不是过去）

I thought I might come and see you later this evening.（章振邦）

Did you want cream with your coffee, sir?（对比Do you want cream with your coffee, sir?）

I was hoping we could have dinner together.

I was hoping you could lend me some money.

这种过去时用法和我上面说的过去时用法是否有关联？

我认为有相似的地方。能用于“礼貌委婉的请求或是提问”的动词很少，限于I wondered, I thought, I hoped, did you want等这有限的几个，而且主要是意义上有区别！

I thought you might like some flowers.这句是礼貌过去时用法，句中的you是不是真的要些花“我”不太确定，可能是也可能不是，所以说的很委婉。

也可以理解为“承蒙您纠正我之前，我一直想.......”。这是相当的委婉。这里的"我一直想......"是否为真,要等到对方回话了才知道。

We were expecting to hear a new proposal today.(柯林斯英语语法第4版)

这一句如何理解？只是单独的这一句，我觉得有几种理解，一是现在语境下用过去进行时表示“过去的期望没有实现”，说话人在proposal被提出之后觉得很失望，然后说了这句话，；二是理解成礼貌过去时的请求，说话人在proposal被提出之前很委婉说出了这句话。所以语境是多么的重要！

还有一种句型与上面谈论的内容也很相关，甚至可以说如出一辙：

It's not as big as I expected. (not ... as I have expected.) 注意不要用现在完成

You're older than I thought. (not .. .than I have thought.)注意不要用现在完成

The price is somewhat higher than I expected.

Our success is much behind what I had hoped.(张道真现代英语用法词典)

The problem is rather more complicated than we had expected.（麦克米兰美语高阶）

These students work harder than we had expected.

The baby now walks much better than we had expected.

Our net profit this year is, admittedly, much smaller than we had expected. (Longman Dictionary of American English 4th)

The matter is more serious than we had expected.

You are further on with the work than I had expected.

The problem turned out to be rather less tractable than I had expected.

The truth turned out to be stranger than we had expected.

It was farther to the shops than I expected.

David arrived sooner than I expected.

There were more people there than I expected.

上面的例句表明完全是混战。一般来说，英式英语中的使用规范是如下的样子：

The price is somewhat higher than I expected.（语境是现在，那就用过去时expected）

The truth turned out to be stranger than we had expected.（语境是过去，那就用过去完成时had expected）

 但是美式英语似乎不那么讲究：

David arrived sooner than I expected.（英式英语会用had expected）

The problem is rather more complicated than we had expected.（英式英语会用expected）

美式英语对于“过去的过去”用过去完成不那么严格。

弄清这些问题，本论坛上很多问题就好理解了，比如：

https://www.cpsenglish.com/question/41064

https://www.cpsenglish.com/question/8034