In Idioms^x, Past tenses^x

Inchoateknowledge wrote: Marius Hancu wrote: Inchoateknowledge wrote: The modal idiom to be to is used to express requirement, just like to have to Not in such contexts, IMO, not with "were." Hi Marius, why not? Past tense, conditional mood. were to is a past tense form of to be...

Marius Hancu wrote: Inchoateknowledge wrote: The modal idiom to be to is used to express requirement, just like to have to Not in such contexts, IMO, not with "were." Hi Marius, why not? Past tense, conditional mood.

New2grammar wrote: IMO, it should be "I had better go to bed." Yoong Liat, why did you choose to use past tense 'had' when the activity is in present? Any grammar rules that would explain this? It is an idiom. So I don't think there is a logical explanation. According to the Collins...

Dear Mr. Micawber, The task I want to set my students is to fill in the blanks with the corresponding past tense form of the verbs in brackets (the sentences in question are taken from some jokes and the underlined words are to be taken out and replaced with blanks). Therefore, my problem is:...

Hi! Are the following 2 verbs idioms: 1. He took a long walk later that night. (to take a walk?) 2. Is ”to come to a conclusion” an idiom? My sentence reads: “They came to the conclusion that they already had a telephone network.” What infinitive forms should I bracket in the following...

In #2 the operative verb is was, in concord with the subject he. To have been is the infinitive perfective of be, here used in a passive construction. (To be to + infinitive is a modal idiom and we have it here in the past tense.)

Thank you for the detailed explanation. I know "have" can mean "eat", and "I had lunch" is quite natural to me. But if we take "had" in "I had a lot to eat" in that way, the sentence would be rephrased as "I ate a lot to eat". The expression seems to me to be somehow redundant, though I know I...

kept watch is the simple past tense of keep watch, which is an idiom. It means to be on guard. So while Dorothy and Toto slept, the scarecrow remained awake and alert in case someone approached them wanting to do something bad to them.

1-- Had better ('d better) is not past tense, Jack-- it is a modal idiom, like would rather. 2-- You will hear people say I better, but it should be transcribed as I'd better.

I know which book you're translating from! Please do not leave a space before your commas and periods. Ghosts *Hide (you use past tense in the narrative) from Jiang Sanmang Mr.Yao’an heard a story *from Mr. Run Sheng, his great grandfather. In Jing City?there was a man called Jiang...