Can I use past and present in one sentence?
- I agree that he was wrong.
- I don’t care if she had a character development towards the end.
Are these sentences correct? If not, can you provide me an example where we can use past and present together?
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1Who said you can't? People do it all the time. If your teacher told you not to use tenses together, find a teacher that speaks English.– John LawlerCommented Jul 14, 2021 at 18:25
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2Hello, and welcome to the ELU. I am sure in your mother tongue there are situations in which you do use past and present in one sentence. This is not specific to one language only.– fevCommented Jul 14, 2021 at 18:31
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1They are indeed correct. The "caring" and "agreeing" are happening in the present, the events they are related to in the past.– CaptainSkyfishCommented Jul 14, 2021 at 19:20
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@fev Some languages don't have tense, Mandarin, for example.– gotube ♦Commented Jul 14, 2021 at 19:53
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1@gotube Those are few languages, and it is true, they exist. If the OP is coming back, he/she can let us know if he/she is Chinise. But I am afraid the user got scared off...– fevCommented Jul 14, 2021 at 20:06
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2 Answers
Well, of course you can use both tenses in a sentence because they can refer to different acctions. Consider:
I agree [NOW] that he was wrong [THEN, two days or weeks ago, whenever in the past].
I don’t care [NOW] if she had a character development towards the end [end of what? her life? her career? her university? Could be any past period of her life that is now finished].
But unless you specify the complaints of the person who stated that these sentences are not correct, I can't think of anything else to say.
Both of your examples are good.
You can mix past, present and future if you like.
"We will look fondly back on the way we were." (Where "the way we were" refers to the way we are now.)
