Why in the sentence "I used to be in the government service, but am no longer" is the first part used in the past tense, and the second part in the present?
3
-
5The first part is about the past, the second is about the current state, i.e. the present.– timchessishCommented Sep 18, 2023 at 8:44
-
Am no longer means that the speaker doesn’t work in the government service anymore. The sentence has the same structure as I grew up in Paris but now live in the US.– Paul TanenbaumCommented Sep 18, 2023 at 9:39
-
The use of the past tense "used to be" indicates that the speaker had a previous job in government service, while the present tense "am no longer" signifies their current status outside of government service.– SamCommented Sep 18, 2023 at 10:36
Add a comment
|
1 Answer
Why in the sentence "I used to be in the government service, but am no longer" is the first part used in the past tense, and the second part in the present?
You almost answered your own question, so you have a good intuition about this! It's because the first part is in the past, and the second part is in the present. There isn't a rule preventing a sentence from taking on multiple tenses when there is a reason to do so. Only avoid tense switching when it is done for no reason. Here, there is a clear reason to do this.
