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Example 1

The party caused a mess in the common area. The school asked us to do the party elsewhere next time.

Even though the word "ask" is past tense, what the school asked for (the part in bold) is in the future and has not happened yet. Does this example make sense?

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    The verb tense is fine, though I would use have or hold rather than do. Commented Sep 28, 2022 at 8:31
  • It doesn't make any difference that what the school asked for is in the future - they asked us to do something, which requires an infinitive verb in the complement of the main verb asked. Compare Yesterday they asked us to be quiet. Today they're asking us to be tidy. Commented Sep 28, 2022 at 12:30

1 Answer 1

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This is correct. You use "asked" in the past tense since the request happened in the past.

The grammar of the verb "ask" is "ask to infinitive". Infinitive verbs never have any tense. So it is "asked to do" or "is asking to do" or "will ask to do". The verb "do" never changes.

But you would normally "hold a party", not "do a party".

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