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Example 1:

Imagine I wrote an article in a foreign language I am not very good at, so I wrote down something like (1) to indicate that I feel sorry about the possible imperfections in the article:

(1) If I made a mistake, I am sorry about it.

Does it make sense to use past real condition in an if-clause and present tense in a main clause like this?


Example 2:

Imagine I was drunk when I was talking to my friend. I felt a little bit guilty about it the next day, so I said something like (2) to her:

(2) If I hurt your feeling yesterday, I will make it up to you.

Does it make sense to use past real condition in an if-clause and future tense in a main clause like this ?


In short, can I mix past real condition and other tenses(future or present, etc) in a sentence like examples above to indicate my future actions corresponding to past events?

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  • English-speaking people usually talk about (not) hurting someone's feelings.
    – user3395
    Feb 11, 2018 at 13:39

1 Answer 1

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Yes. When you're talking about real situations, past tenses refer to past events, present ones to present events, and constructions used to express the future to future events.

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