New answers tagged present-tense
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past and present tense confusion: recounting a past event, of which something is still relevant in the present
In this context, "was" is correct and the more natural choice, though "is" is also correct.
By default, when talking about noticing or discovering something that happened in the ...
- 37.3k
2
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past and present tense confusion: recounting a past event, of which something is still relevant in the present
The usage of 'was' is correct as it indicates the incident has happened before, and the usage of 'was' does not change your observation - that is the fake product is still fake.
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It was the best ever vs it is the best ever?
Use "is the best ever" if the thing is currently happening, or ongoing.
"This salad is the best ever" (current)
"Peaches are the best fruit ever" (ongoing)
"Reading ...
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It was the best ever vs it is the best ever?
A meal in a restaurant:
This is the best ever. [as we enjoy it now.]
That was the best ever. [when we refer to the meal in the past]
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It was the best ever vs it is the best ever?
"Ever" means "of all time", but the exact meaning changes with the tense.
When used in the present, "ever" includes up to the present. When used in the past, it may ...
- 37.3k
2
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The simple past tense confusion (II) : Old connection, with a working exchange from the 1940s, shows or showed?
"shows" is correct.
The simplest form of the sentence is:
Old Connections shows (something).
The phrase, "a telecommunications museum in Seattle" describes what "Old ...
- 37.3k
4
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The simple past tense confusion (II) : Old connection, with a working exchange from the 1940s, shows or showed?
I agree with your teacher; I would use shows. The sentence is talking about a museum and what it shows to anyone who visits it now. (The fact that the museum's name, Old Connections, is in the plural ...
- 43.7k
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The simple past tense confusion, why use "was" instead of "is" here, "the classic 1984 was a broader critique of totalitarianism ..."?
When talking about a document (book, article, etc.), you can speak of it both in present tense ("it says this and that") or in past tense ("it said this and that). In present tense, ...
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The simple past tense confusion, why use "was" instead of "is" here, "the classic 1984 was a broader critique of totalitarianism ..."?
In that part of the video, the speaker is talking about the history of novels on totalitarianism, not about the novels themselves. So, he talks about what the book was when it came out, not what its ...
- 37.3k
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The simple past tense confusion, why use "was" instead of "is" here, "the classic 1984 was a broader critique of totalitarianism ..."?
Idea: "the classic "1984" was a broader critique of totalitarianism, media, and language".
Just because a book such as this one is described as "was a broader critique of X, Y ...
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