Questions tagged [sequence-of-tenses]
for questions about the agreement between the tenses of verbs in related clauses or sentences.
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How to combine “She was/wasn’t at home” vs “She had/hadn’t been at home" with “when I called her”?
When I called her she wasn’t at home.She wasn’t at home when I called her.
When I called her she had been at home.She had been at home when I called her.
Does had been at home mean that she was at ...
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sequence of tenses issue (called)
I am wondering Which one is correct "I had a traditional Filipino dish that is called tinolang manok." or "I had a traditional Filipino dish that was called tinolang manok."
Are both sentences ...
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Past perfect tense or passive
The Rescue Service said it WAS CALLED to support the coastguard to look for missing people.
The Rescue Service said it HAD BEEN CALLED to support the coastguard to look for missing people.
Which is ...
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what is this meaning of "could"?
A: Your French is horrible.
B: Oh really? Then, seems like I've been deceiving myself into thinking that I could speak it when I actually couldn't.
This "could" is the result of the ...
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Grammar with since as a conjunction
Which one is correct between the two given sentences and why?
1) It is five years since I saw a movie.
2) It has been five years since I saw a movie.
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Sequence of tenses for modal verbs?
Would, could, and might can be used to express possibility or uncertainty in the present or future (they are the "softer" and more "indirect", or more "polite" forms of ...
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Do you know what they mean/meant by this?
I'm trying to ask the other person to clarify what he just said as he asked me about the size of a material.
His question:"What materials require the tools needed to move the 3 pallet sizes?"...
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Past Perfect tense in "if clause" type 3
"If he had come here yesterday at 5 p.m., he might have seen his sister."
What does this sentence mean and which situation do I imagine with this sentence?
Do I imagine the situation that he came ...
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Tense simplification: use would, could, might, should to express possibility, uncertainty, etc. in the present
The book Practical English Usage by Michael Swan says:
The tense in the subordinate clause tends to be simplified.
He gives some examples:
(a) If I (would have) had lots of money, I would give some ...
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"Most people had come to accept that war <was> <would be> inevitable."
a sentence from extra examples of item #7 on oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com:
(1) Most people had come to accept that war was inevitable.
Does Past Perfect mean "most people coming to accept" ...
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What does "The collected statistical data have been analysed and interpreted thoroughly" mean?
Does this sentence mean that some data was collected (in the certain point in the past), then has been analysed and interpreted (in the period of the time in the past)?
Should this sentence be written:...
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"sequence of tenses"
I am wondering whether it is better to say:
You would think that I was a thief.
or
You would think that I am a thief.
and
I wouldn't say one was more correct than the other
or
I ...
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Why do we match the tenses in the first example and not in the second one
Could you explain me why it is better to say
I did not know you had a brother.
even it is a present situation. Your brother is still alive. It is better to match the tenses and why can you use ...
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Progressive aspect with simple past
Is this sentence correct?
She isn't feeling well so she had to take a day off.
Or should it be wasn't?
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The past perfect tense when using time clauses
I was taking a course about time clauses when I got confused about when I should use the Past perfect tense in the main clause.
According to the lesson, we should use Past Participle in the main ...
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Extend something to somebody
We usually say extend something to somebody but in the following sentence
The law created a group called ‘Socially and Educationally Backward Class’ and included Marathas as the sole group under the ...
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He could feel yesterday that his mother would/will bombard him with new information. - which one?
When the main verb is a modal verb such as "could" or "was able to", does the principle of "sequence of tense" still apply?
Example 1
He could feel yesterday that his ...
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What Is the Scope of the Past Perfect?
(Post copied, with minor alterations, from English Language & Usage on suggestion from a user.)
Recently, I’ve been editing a piece of writing written in first-person present tense. The narrator ...
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What does mean the sequence of time in this example
throughout the period the Sex pistols were active there had always been an intention to produce a film based around the band. It was always part of McLaren's master plan that the Pistols were more ...
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Would have thought
I’m having a disagreement with a friend about the use of would have.
She thinks that backshifting isn’t necessary, whereas I think it is.
For example,
“I would have thought he made exceptions in ...
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The past perfect tense and simple past
We usually use when with reference to the simple past tense because it refers to a point of time rather than a period of time.
When I reached the station, the train had left.
But can I say
When ...
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price to be advised and quoted separately
price to be advised and quoted separately
In the sentence above, is the word quoted a short form of to be quoted?
Should it be price to be advised and quote separately?
Edit to add more context: I ...
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Why is the progressive form used in “since we weren't playing...”
Why did the author choose a continuous form?
Kim would always encourage me to wear baseball hats when we played because she said it made me look a heavy metal drummer, and since we weren't playing ...
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Has or Had in this example?
So today I had to write this sentence and it came to me with this little doubt:
Fixed multiple bugs when a task has/had no date.
I'm more convinced by had, I'm saying that the bugs occurred when the ...
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Betty took two lumps, then saying, 'Well,Happy Birthday again'
Betty took two lumps, then saying, 'Well,Happy Birthday again'
This is from the book Desperate Measures by Kitty Neale.
I don't understand the usage of then saying. The first part is past tense and ...
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Past perfect without Past tense
As a technology visionary, Elon Musk has created cars that have
challenged the conventional automobile industry and rockets that have
saved space transportation costs.
Is this sentence correct? It ...
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I told him and now he KNOWS or I told him and now he KNEW?
I told him and now he knows.
or
I told him and now he knew.
If I have now in the sentence. Does it mean that the following verb needs to be in a present tense? Or it is not necessary?
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The day after/before - the choice of tenses
I've a question regarding the tense choice with the phrase "the day/night/minute... after/before + clause.
As we all know, after some words only the Present Simple is possible. Some of such are ...
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Mixing conditionals confusion
Using mix conditionals : should I use "were" or "are" in the following:
1-They wouldn't be famous in the way that they( are) now if they hadn't been serious.
2- They wouldn't be famous in the way ...
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Sequence of tenses (the present perfect and the past simple
1 And now that a month has passed, she decided to write a review.
2 And now that a month has passed, she has decided to write a review.
3 And then that a month had passed, she decided to write a ...
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Is "I heard old war drums beat." from the Eric Bogle's song "Welcome Home" grammatical?
In the Eric Bogle's anti-war song "Welcome Home" (about the Vietnam War) there is a line "I heard old war drums beat.". Is it grammatical or is it licentia poetica? I think I ...
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What is the correct word to the song that kept telling me its okay or that keep telling is correct
Like something I've been listening for a year and want to express that the song was the one that keep me going and what should be the correct word for me to post with kept telling or keep telling what ...
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sequence of tenses and will
I'd like to know if my understanding is correct.
She said "I will leave for the U.S."
This sentence can be rephrased in two ways, i.e.
She said she would leave for the U.S.
She said she ...
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Why is "It is" incorrect in "It is because he was jealous..."?
It is because he was jealous that John lied about his sister's prize.
I don't know why 'It is~' is wrong in the sentence.
In a text book, they say the sentence is wrong. What is the difference ...
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Is this sentecne correct? 'It was only after I started studying for a BA degree in Sociology that I became interested in...'
It was only after I started studying for a BA degree in Sociology
that I became interested in how people from dysfunctional families
become parents.
Is 'studying for a BA degree in smth' a correct ...
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The fact that she "would/will" come to see me on Friday bothered me. - "the fact that..." follows the rule of sequence of tense?
Assume the time of speaking is on Wednesday and the time of action of bothering happened way back, last week.
Example 1
The fact that she would come to see me on Friday bothered me.
Example 2
The ...
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Does "all morning" mean that the morning is over?
'I don't know. It _____ (4) (be) there all morning.' The man replied.'Well, we can't leave it there, it's too dangerous. He might have an accident. What should I do?' The cashier suggested, 'you ...
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What to use "Have or Did"
I am confused. Could anyone explain the difference between the two.
If you want to find out whether or not your coworker has met the boss. Are you going to respond,
"Have you met the boss?" ...
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Confused about tenses in conditionals
I've been told that the following examples of conditional sentences are wrong because the tenses don't match the structure of any of the four types: zero, first, second, or third. I'm very confused ...
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". . . don’t remember saying I will/would do . . ."
Which of the following is correct?
I don’t remember saying I will do such a thing.
I don’t remember saying I would do such a thing.
On the one hand, the logic behind the sentence reminds me of ...
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Which tense I do have to use if a main clause is in past simple tense and a subordinate clause is linked by the word before?
I have the following situation:
at first, I wrote a comment;
them Martin wrote a comment
then, after some time, I've seen the Martin's comment.
So would it be correct to describe this situation with ...
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Sequence of verbs: present perfect after past simple
For a while I have been using this table of sequences of verbs as a reference. Today I found this sentence, which doesn't correspond to either of the rules form the table:
You didn't answer the ...
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Using would with present tense
Is this correct?
I would buy it if it actually does what it is supposed to do?
Should we replace this sentence with this? If so, please explain.
I would buy it if it actually did what it was ...
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Which one is correct? "Believe" word grammar
Which sentence is correct?
He believed that brain is linked to emotion.
He believed that brain was linked to emotion.
I think "is linked" is correct because he believes in a fact, am I right?...
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I thought he would have been [closed]
a. I thought he would have been sad before I entered the room and seeing me would make him happy. Actually, he was happy and seeing me made him sad.
b. I thought he would have felt sad before I ...
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I realized half an hour ago that it ____ time to go to my home country [closed]
I realized half an hour ago that it was time to go to my home country.
I realized half an hour ago that it is time to go to my home country.
If I say that I will do this trip next month, I can't say &...
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Are the tenses of the verbs well chosen
I ve been watching this film for 30 minutes and I (have) already cried so I was happy when I received your message for my birthday.
Do the tenses fit here? I think so
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Can we mix tenses in this example?
My order has just been cancelled but I can't find the refund. When did you refund me ?
I think "was cancelled" should be better because the refund happens obviously after the cancellation....
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Should we check the 'tense agreement'? If so, what' the difference in the meaning?
When we rewrite the passive-reporting verbs from one structure to another, should we check the tense agreements? **'⇒'**are answers in text book, however, considering the tense agreement, '*' also ...
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The order of actions with WHEN CLAUSE
1 He said to me his name when I gave him the money.
1 I gave 2 he said
That is clear. The next are not clear.
2 When I met him he knew the news.
Does it mean that he learnt the news after I met him ...
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