correct choice of words

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tamguatlay  #506942  Tue, 29 Apr 08 08:52 AM

David likes to joke, even with his parents. One day, his father told him to stop acting like a clown. From then on / onwards he no longer jokes / joked with his parents.

Should the sentence be rephrased?  If not which of the following words should I use?

on or onwards

jokes or joked

Please hekp me. Thanks a lot.

  
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Creativeguru  #506943  Tue, 29 Apr 08 08:58 AM

 

 

David likes to joke, even with his parents. One day, his father told him to stop acting like a clown. From then onwards he no longer jokes with his parents.
  
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New2grammar  #506947  Tue, 29 Apr 08 09:04 AM

 My take

David liked to joke, even with his parents. One day, his father told him to stop acting like a clown. From then on / onwards he no longer joked with his parents.

David likes to joke, even with his parents. One day, his father tells him to stop acting like a clown. From then on / onwards he no longer jokes with his parents.

  
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tamguatlay  #506948  Tue, 29 Apr 08 09:04 AM

Thanks, Creatveguru

I always see "From then on" followed by a simple past tense verb. E.g. From then on, he vowed never to gamble again. 

So I would like a native to confirm.

  
tamguatlay  #506950  Tue, 29 Apr 08 09:08 AM

New2grammar

 My take

David liked to joke, even with his parents. One day, his father told him to stop acting like a clown. From then on / onwards he no longer joked with his parents.

David likes to joke, even with his parents. One day, his father tells him to stop acting like a clown. From then on / onwards he no longer jokes with his parents.

Why 'liked'? He still jokes with others but not with his parents!
  
New2grammar  #506954  Tue, 29 Apr 08 09:20 AM

Here's my guess. I could be wrong. I would pick one tense and try to stick to it as much as possible. Sounds like you're interested in the present tense. So let's analyze it, which is my second version.

David likes to joke, even with his parents (No problem. To me, it sounds like cracking jokes is his hobby and he does that to his parents too) One day, his father told him to stop acting like a clown (I personally don't like the tense switch here. You are speaking about David in the present tense a second ago and all of a sudden you take your audience back in time without at least some transition to prepare the audience for the switch. To me, I find the paragraph a bit disconnected. I could be darn wrong. You might want to confirm with a native)

  
Creativeguru  #506958  Tue, 29 Apr 08 09:33 AM

Interesting New2grammar

  
New2grammar  #506961  Tue, 29 Apr 08 09:39 AM

I could be talking nonsense here. Actually, I'm interested in knowing what the natives think.

By the way, if you prefer to switch tenses, I'd do it this way (just a suggestion):

David loves to joke and he even joked with his military father until one day, his father ...

  
Yoong Liat  #506967  Tue, 29 Apr 08 09:50 AM

tamguatlay

David likes to joke, even with his parents. One day, his father told him to stop acting like a clown. From then on / onwards he no longer jokes / joked with his parents.

Should the sentence be rephrased?  If not which of the following words should I use?

I would rephrase as:  One day, his father told him to stop acting like a clown. Since then he no longer jokes with his parents.

  
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