Tense

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hanuman_2000

#53911 Sat, 06 Nov 04 10:51 AM

Sir,

1.I went to his house but he had gone.

2.I went to his house but he was not there.
------------------------------------------.
3.There were in danger but now they are safe.

In first two sentences both clause are in past tense but in third
one clause is in past tense and the other is in present.

I am confused.
Please clear the doubt.

Thanks.

hanuman_2000

Joined on Thu, Aug 12 2004

INDIA

Contributing Member (1,625)

Tenses, Clauses, Past Tenses

MrPedantic

#53988 Sun, 07 Nov 04 12:14 AM

Hello Hanuman

In the first two sentences, all the action takes place in the past. Therefore all
the verbs are in past tenses.

I think the third sentence should read 'They were in danger but now they are
safe'.

If this is correct, the sentence contrasts the present state of 'they' with the past
state of 'they'.

In the first clause, 'they were in danger': i.e. in the past. In the second clause,
'they are safe': i.e. now. Therefore a present tense is used for the 2nd verb.

MrP

MrPedantic

Joined on Tue, Oct 12 2004

Veteran Member (12,168)

...opella forensis / adducit febris...

Verbs, Tenses, Clauses, Present Tenses, Past Tenses