5
votes
Accepted
Do we say "Do you remember your homework?" or "Did you remember your homework?"
It depends on which of the rather different meanings of remember you intend.
Do you remember your homework? normally means something like "Can you bring to mind the content of your homework, or ...
- 65.2k
4
votes
The pictures I sent were horrible or the pictures I sent are horrible? Which one is correct and why?
Both of them are grammatically correct, but I find the version with were to be more natural, because then the tenses of sent and were match. It's true that the pictures might still be horrible, but ...
- 35.9k
3
votes
Accepted
A wonderful month for me! (in future/present/past time)
The noun phrase "A wonderful month for me" doesn't contain any time reference. There is no tensed verb, nor is there a time phrase like "last year". It could refer to past, ...
- 154k
3
votes
Accepted
How to use the present tense when the story is in the past without seeming to look like it is a grammatical mistake?
Your rewrite sounds even better than the example from the book:
I am sitting in the park, reading a newspaper, when all of a sudden this dog jumps at me.
Provided sufficient context is provided, ...
- 2,823
2
votes
When asking about a health condition which tense do you use?
The answer has nothing to do with whether you're asking about a health condition.
If you want to ask how they are now, use the present tense:
How are your legs?
If you want to ask about how they ...
- 2,823
2
votes
Accepted
Does a possession verb (to have) also have to be in the past when the tense is the past tense?
If you want to say that the boy had Collins' Syndrome in the past, then you must use the past tense:
There was a boy who lived in a small village who1 had Collins' Syndrome.
We can instead use the ...
- 6,997
2
votes
Accepted
Could past simple fit here?
I had not finished is the normal choice here: the temporal viewpoint is the point at which you accidentally sent the message, so you are looking backwards from there to an earlier time, whn you might ...
- 65.2k
2
votes
A wonderful month for me! (in future/present/past time)
As stangdon mentioned in the comments, the missing verb (and its tense) is meant to be inferred from context.
If the phrase was referring to the past, or to the present, it would still be written as A ...
- 1,054
2
votes
Accepted
after 10 minutes of driving I decided to go back home
It does sound odd to say that you 'went there' and immediately explain that you turned back. It would be better to say 'I set off for Moscow'.
- 32.6k
1
vote
Accepted
Did you see where the dragon went?
"It went towards Riften" is good. It simply describes the dragon's direction of travel (something that the old woman could observe). It does not imply that the dragon has arrived, nor that ...
- 154k
1
vote
Tense and meaning of, oh, also
I take it that person A, the fist speaker, tells person B that s/he put the paper in the middle room, and then person B responds that s/he found the papers in the middle room and is sorting them. So ...
- 34.5k
1
vote
Accepted
Do you use mostly past tense when reporting a past event?
You are generally correct to write a report of a past event using past tense verbs.
Try to avoid passive tense and "be" verbs when possible; use active verbs and make the subject clear. For ...
- 1,916
1
vote
What is the difference between it was a good memory and it is a good memory?
Firstly, it might be a bit confusing to speak about good memories. A good memory is simply a retentive one. Good memories may simply be clear or accurate ones. For now, let's use 'happy' instead.
...
- 8,187
1
vote
Which verb tense should I use in the example below?
You are considering the future, that has not happened yet so you need to use
if Test B turns out bad, we will need to do a Test C.
I hope it helps you.
- 111
1
vote
Changing present tense to past tense in indirect speech
Assuming that the time reference remains unchanged (i.e., it is still the time at which these sentences are spoken), the verb should be in the past tense, because it describes action before the ...
- 6,997
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