Questions tagged [tense]
This tag is for questions about tense, or location in time by grammatical forms and constructions rather than by semantics.
3,048
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perfect tense with future time reference
If it came yesterday he will surely have told her.
-- The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language
When I saw “Call me in the morning and I’ll have selected your living quarters (Invisible Man)”...
3
votes
3
answers
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Correctness of sentence
I wrote the sentence "I am wishing the best to you and your family", and I would like to know, if it is correct, especially regarding the tense.
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Why is it not OK to use the Present Perfect here?
Michael Swan, in his grammar book, says that in this context the Present Perfect tense is not to be used.
1) Why are you crying? – Tony hit me.
2) This picture looks great. Did you paint it ...
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2
answers
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"What was I saying" or "What did I say" when you're interrupted?
When I'm in a discussion with someone and then someone interrupts us and then I forgot what I said and want to continue from the point where I stopped, is it correct to say:
What was I saying?
...
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votes
3
answers
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Is this the correct tense usage?
This is an anecdote made by a poster:
I had a female coworker, and she suggested that her husband and I play racquetball after work. My regular partner had bailed. So we meet up, play racquetball, ...
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2
answers
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"You will soon envy the one who does"
If you don’t buy it you will soon envy [a] the one who did
[b]. If you don’t buy it you will soon envy [c] the one who
does [d]. (The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language)
No doubt, [b] is ...
7
votes
2
answers
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Difference between "continue to" and "are continuing to"
Please tell me is there any fundamental difference between the two sentences:
Even today, people continue to use cheques.
Even today, people are continuing to use cheques.
I mean is there a ...
1
vote
1
answer
213
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Can this clause be used with both present and future reference?
I don’t mind what you do. (1) Let me know who wins. (2)
-- Cambridge Grammar of the English Language
CGEL says the two examples’ subordinate clauses are written as ‘deictic futures’. There would ...
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1
answer
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Why is this 'moved' a past form? [duplicate]
"There must be some kind of story or legend behind it[=entrance
stone]. Maybe it's famous and on display at a shrine or
someplace." "It could be, I suppose." "Or maybe it's just in
some house, ...
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votes
2
answers
523
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Continued to vs Continuing [closed]
Here are two examples from the news:
In July exports of goods continued to decline
Pregnant women continuing to drink alcohol despite warnings from medical experts
Whats the difference ...
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vote
2
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53
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Which one is anterior to the other?
If she beats (a) him he’ll claim (b) she cheated (c). (The
Cambridge Grammar of the English Language)
The time of (c) is certainly earlier than (b). But which one is earlier between (a) and (b)?
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to hear or to have heard
“Major Toyama was killed in Tokyo in March 1945, in the line of duty,
during an air raid.” “I'm very sorry to hear that.” (Kafka on
the Shore, tr. by Philip Gabriel)
Logically, to hear precedes I’...
1
vote
1
answer
105
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implication of perfect tense
Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. (Harry
Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)
The prefect tense above makes a range of which the best is selected out. So, in fact, he’d had in long ...
3
votes
1
answer
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Is the use of past perfect tense here correct? "When I... I had been..."
I encounter this past perfect tense structure very often:
When I joined X company, at that time I had been unemployed for the last 3 years.
When I started leaning to swim, I had been practicing ...
2
votes
1
answer
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Can "would have pp" have present as its reference time?
I've been guessing that would have p.p can be used for future and it has present reference time. But I've not met the case before this. I strongly suspect that the example's reference time is present. ...
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Suitable tense for specific time
I understand that when we use the past continuous tense, our listener usually understands what time we are talking about. Like, "I was working at 10 pm last night."
However, I saw a sentence in a ...
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2
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What tenses should I use in clauses joined by "so"?
I'm learning about joining Past Continuous and Simple Past tenses. It's easy to understand when we use while and when. However, for other conjunctions, I don't know which sentences should be Simple ...
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Necessity of using "had had" when a single "had" could have sufficed?
If Sir John had had the slightest idea what was going to be the devastating effect of his son's handsome looks upon a certain beautiful courtesan and the tragedy which would ensue, he might have had ...
2
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2
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meaning of past perfect
Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find
their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at
all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit ...
4
votes
3
answers
646
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Is the tense-agreement in this question specific to "dare not", or are there other examples?
He knew she dare not tell her father.
Kim daren’t tell them so I had to do it myself.
-- The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, p109n
My mother tongue, Korean, has tense inflectional options: ...
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3
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"done" vs "have done"
I think this sentence is correct.
I done something.
This is also correct.
I have done something.
What are the involved tense? How are they different?
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4
answers
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What tense should I use?
I am trying to translate a sentence about having breakfast from Italian, but I don't know which tense I should use.
Facevo colazione alle 9:00.
The sentence is about something done in the past; it'...
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votes
1
answer
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Is using the Simple Past always considered a more polite way to ask something?
When I use the Simple Past to ask something, is the sentence always considered more polite?
I wanted to know if you would accept an invitation for dinner.
I wanted to ask you something.
I ...
1
vote
2
answers
352
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Can a present tense have the meaning of perfect tense?
"But this is important."
"Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic, Potter?"
"Look," said Harry, throwing caution to the winds, "Professor—it's about the ...
2
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3
answers
3k
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Present perfect or simple past?
I just came across this question:
This tree (be) _____ planted by the settlers who (found) _____ our city over four hundred years ago.
I think "over four hundred years ago" is an unspecified ...
3
votes
2
answers
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"I'm not improving my English knowledge significantly" versus "I have not been improving my English knowledge significantly"
I'm not improving my English knowledge significantly.
I have not been improving my English knowledge significantly.
I would like to know which is the best choice between the two sentences above.
I ...
1
vote
2
answers
36k
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"I just wanted to check" with before
When you use the phrase "I just wanted to check" with the word "before," do you usually use present tense or past simple?
In the example below, I'm trying to say thank you after receiving an answer ...
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1
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442
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What should the more appropriate tense to use in this case be?
There is an website that allows users to send 1024-character messages to each other. When the message is longer, trying to send it causes an error message similar to the following to appear:
Max ...
2
votes
2
answers
284
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"Which would have turned five years next month"
I'm confused with the use of would have here.
Steve and Anne have ended their relationship, which would have turned five years next month.
Does the relative clause in that sentence mean the same ...
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votes
1
answer
159
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Why are these present perfect? [closed]
From you have I been [A] absent in the spring, When
proud-pied April dress'd in all his trim
Hath put [A’] a spirit of youth in every thing That heavy Saturn laugh'd and leap'd [B] with him. Yet ...
1
vote
1
answer
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Is this 'might have p.p' a back-shifted form?
And Andrew shouted that the sea was coming in, so she leapt splashing
through the shallow waves on to the shore and ran up the beach and was
carried by her own im-petuosity and her desire for ...
1
vote
2
answers
941
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Is this past tense, in fact, a past perfect
As they turned by the cross roads he thought what an appalling
experience he had been through, and he must tell some one –– Mrs.
Ramsay of course, for it took his breath away to think what he had
...
2
votes
1
answer
153
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If this 'would' were 'would have p.p', is it not an irrealis but past form of would?
Then she remembered; Paul and Minta and Andrew had not come back. She summoned before her again the little group on the terrace in front of the hall door, standing looking up into the sky. Andrew had ...
4
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474
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When 'past modal+have+past participle' accompanies with past tense in a sentence, can it be before the past or at the past?
Hermione, however, had more on her mind than the Sorcerer's Stone. She
had started drawing up study schedules and colorcoding all her notes.
Harry and Ron wouldn't have minded,[A1] but she kept ...
2
votes
1
answer
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Is there any tense from reader's time?
A crusty old grumbler who lost his temper if the porridge was cold,
why should he preach to us? (Virginia Woolf, To the
Lighthouse)
I.
‘Should’ is the past from reader’s present time.
II.
‘...
3
votes
1
answer
497
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Can past tenses in a sentence have different time reference?
Duric Ludokian was a huge wealthy Armenian who had fled from his
native country to Russia in 1896 shortly after the first Turkish
massacres and pogroms against the Armenian people had begun. He ...
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4
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Is "would + present tense" bad grammar?
Is using "would + present tense" bad grammar?
I said "Would it be alright if I go with you?" to a classmate and she replied with "Sure, it would be OK if you came with me." which threw me off a bit.
...
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Is it idiomatic to use "to hope" in a sentence in which 'could' or 'can' appear?
Which of the below sentences is more idiomatic in the English language, 1) or 2)? Or, both?
I hope that we could listen to live calls.
I hope that we can listen to live calls.
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2
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Tenses after "when," "if," "before," "after," and "as soon as" [closed]
What tenses should I use after these adverbs, Present Simple or Present Perfect? Is it possible to use the Future Simple?
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How can I understand when "will" is used to express willingness?
The OALD says that will can be used to:
Talking about or predicting the future
Showing that somebody is willing to do something
Is there a way to distinguish the first use from the second?
For ...
2
votes
3
answers
858
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Can I always use the present tense for something happening in the future?
In Italian, I could use the Simple Present for something happening in the future. For example, I could say l'anno prossimo parto per gli Stati Uniti ("the next year I leave for the USA".) This would ...
2
votes
1
answer
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Diffrences between "told" and "have told"
What are the differences between "told" and "have told"?
How do you know that?
Jack told me so.
Can we use "Jack has told me so" instead, since it is related to the present?
Why are you ...
2
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1
answer
4k
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Can would be used instead of will?
"Emma, please, some funds." "How much, Jack?" she said. He
turned to me. "Do you owe much rent?" "Too much," I said.
"Make it three hundred, Emma," he said. "Never mind," he said as
I showed my ...
2
votes
1
answer
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"I will be" versus "I would have"
Which one is correct to state?
At the end of the year I will be graduating from college.
At the end of the year I would have graduated from college.
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1
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11k
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He did not expect to. vs. He had not expected to
Someone asks me:
Was John surprised when he won?
I have two answers to choose from. Which is more appropriate?
Yes. He had not expected to.
Yes. He did not expect to.
Personally I ...
2
votes
1
answer
359
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A misprint in `The Giver`? ("it lay in the future")
Lily looked up, her eyes wide. “The Ceremony of Twelve,” she whispered in an awed voice. Even the smallest children—Lily’s age and younger—knew that it lay in the future for each of them.
...
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2
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Why doesn't this clause have perfect tense?
Harry watched Hagrid getting redder and redder in the face as he
called for more wine, finally kissing Professor McGonagall on the
cheek, who, to Harry's amazement, giggled and blushed, her top ...
5
votes
2
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"Have waited" vs. "did wait" vs. "have been waiting"
My friend is waiting for me at bus stand; I arrive and I want to ask him about the time he waited for me. How would I say?
How long have you waited for me?
How long did you wait for me?
How ...
2
votes
2
answers
7k
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How does this sentence have past tense and adverb tomorrow at once?
You said the finals started tomorrow. (The Cambridge Grammar
of the English Language, p29)
Preterit tense and tomorrow are mixed in the subordinate clause. Does it mean that the finals do not start ...
2
votes
1
answer
7k
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"couldn't tell" vs "couldn't have told"
I couldn't tell if he was annoyed or tired.
I couldn't have told if he was annoyed or tired.
What is the difference between these two?
Let me guess, that the sentences are not conditional, for I can ...