Example A:
John and another accused, Mike, had belonged to the Congress party at the time.
1) Is the above sentence correct?
2) If i use "were belonged to", does it change the meaning?
3) When should I use "had belonged to"; when should I use "were belonged to"?
Example B :
"Meanwhile, no case about the accident has reported in any police station."
1) Is the above correct? As per my perception, it should be "has been reported" instead of only "has reported."
Please help me to understand.
Best Answer
Example A:
1) "...had belonged to" could be correct, but only if "the time" is a period prior to some other event in the past. For example:
Otherwise, it's simple past:
2) You cannot use - "...were belonged to...".
The verb "belong" is intransitive, thus it cannot be made passive. But you could say "were members of...". which is the simple past, and equivalent to "belonged to... To put that into past perfect, "had belonged to" (as above) is equivalent to "had been members of". So...
or
3) see #2. Never use "were belonged to".
Example B: 1) You are correct, it should be "has been reported".
But if you mean nobody has reported the accident to the police, I would have said (AmE)
or, simply
It's not a "case" until after a report has been filed and the police begin to investigate.