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For example,

  1. I go to the meditation class every week and I feel a lot more calm after class.

  2. I go to the meditation class every week and I felt a lot more calm after class.

I think I should use the present tense in the first half of the sentence because I am talking about something that I do regularly.

But at the same time, I felt calm every time after that class (it already happened many times in the past), so I am going to go to the classes and I believe I will still feel calm every time after going to the class (which makes it a regular event too?). So I'm confused about whether I should use the past tense in the second half of the sentence.

I did look up for the usage of simple past and it doesn't explain this situation.

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  • You are describing how you feel after each weekly class and these classes are ongoing: going to these classes was not something you did when you lived in London or Madrid five years ago, say; it is what you are doing in your life now. So, with ongoing habitual or recurrent events and actions, present tense is appropriate. How you feel after each class is a recurring feeling. "I go to meditation class each week, drink a cup of tea when there, take the bus home, and feel great afterwards."
    – TimR
    Commented Oct 7, 2016 at 11:53

1 Answer 1

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The first statement is correct. You go to meditation class every week (though number of days you go is not defined). And you do feel calm after the classes. That should also be in simple present tense. Because you feeling calm is not completed in the past yet. You will continue to feel calm after the classes going to be held in the future also. Hence,
"I go to meditation class every week and I feel a lot more calm after class." Is correct. However if you do want to use past tense, the action must have completed in the past. "I had been going to meditation class every week and I felt a lot more calm after class."

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