0

The more denim was washed, the softer it would get.

The the sentence describes the past or is it a subjnctive mood which describes 'present situation'?

Improve this question
4
  • 1
    It's a habitual occurrence in the past. Each time it was washed, it got softer.
    – Kate Bunting
    Jan 8 at 14:22
  • 1
    It is not grammatical. Present tense: The more denim is washed, the softer it gets. Past tense: The more the denim was washed, the softer it would get OR got. Notice: denim and the denim.
    – Lambie
    Jan 8 at 16:00
  • @Lambie You mean no article(denim) is present and yes article(the denim) is past?
    – gomadeng
    Jan 8 at 17:24
  • Unless denim as a fabric is changed completely, denim in the past without the is a generality and thus unlikely.
    – Lambie
    Jan 8 at 20:38

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

Kate Bunting wrote in a comment: "It's a habitual occurrence in the past. Each time it was washed, it got softer."

From ThoughtCo.:

The habitual past is indicated most frequently by the semi-auxiliary verb used to, the auxiliary would, or the simple past tense of a verb.

From English Club:

We sometimes use would (rather like used to) when talking about habitual past behaviour:

  • Every weekday my father would come home from work at 6pm and watch TV.
  • Every summer we'd go to the seaside.
  • Sometimes she'd phone me in the middle of the night.
  • We would always argue. We could never agree.

You can find several discussions of this topic under this site's "past-habitual" tag.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .