In Simple present^x, Tenses^x

Ant, I think you need to reread GG's post. After "I thought," do NOT use the simple present tense. However, you could use the simple present tense in a direct quote:"The spider is an insect," I thought (to myself)."He is married," I thought (to myself).

Hi Ant222, My English skill is not in the “grammarian” class but I will give it my best attempt to explain it. It may not may not be agreeable with the experts. In many instances during casual conversations, we can bet by with simple past tense and no one will flag you for errors. However, to...

Sorry to have confused all of you. My statement"I thought *only* simple present was correct, but I thought wrong. I now know that both present tense and past tense are possible" was only referring to the sample sentence given by Jim(a) "My professor said that spiders are (were...

If you'll note the time of post, Jim and I posted a minute apart, clearly writing our posts at the same time. NO! "I thought..." REQUIRES past. Present tense is NOT possible! It doesn't have to turn out to be false.It can turn out that what you thought came true. A:...

I thought *only* simple present is (oops, should be was) correct, but I thought wrong. I now know that both present tense and past tense are possible. Sorry for the confusion.I always have problems on this. How to avoid this confusion?When I say "I thought", does it mean what "I...

Thank you very much indeed, Jim. That's a great explanation. You cleared all my doubts. Forgive me for thinking out loud as I hope you can correct me if I am still making any mistakes. Firstly, I didn't notice that it was (can only use "was", "is" not possible?) ...

 I think it's a big mistake because the verb after the auxiliary is in the past participle, it means that the auxiliary should be 'has'  (the verb 'to have' in the present) instead of 'is' (the verb 'to be'  in the present. its a common mistake and it's a...

The subjunctive mood forms: should selland sellare the formal ones. Sells is informal.

I'm not familiar with the site; but the writer may well be of BrE origin. (In BrE, you could use "sells", "should sell", or the subjunctive "sell". The last option has become more popular in the last two decades, in BrE, in contexts where "should sell"...

So the information at http://www.visualesl.com/pages/en/english_suggestions is incorrect. It says "Mark suggests that he sells/should sell his house" is correct.