In Analogies^x, Past tenses^x

Hello anon, I'm not sure why you chose to stand on your soapbox about the declining state of English on a post that was almost two years old, but you are mistaken. Regarding dive:http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dive - usage Dive, which was originally a weak verb, developed a...

First,. let me say that I agree usage-wise Nona and you. I also think that the mother-example is a good one - but it's not a perfect one. It's a good one, because it demonstrates the difference between the time of action and the time of speaking. Noun references are routinely rooted...

You make of confusion, which is made by many, of linking the mood used (subjunctive or indicative) to the form of the verb, not to the meaning of the sentence. As your sentence indicates unreality , it is in the subjunctive mood (informal speech, I'd say). Unfortunately, only few...

Since the past tense doesn't imply anything about now, would you find those past tenses I used ok? Of course! You can tell us whatever you want. You can tell us about something in the past or you can tell us about something in the present, or whatever combinations you'd like. Just don't...

MrPedantic wrote: 7. He looked at me as if I was crazy. #7 implies a backshifted version of "He's looking at me as if I'm crazy", and is my own preference, as I don't much like the past subjunctive with a closed condition. But it does slightly evade the problem; unless you take "as if I...

Certainly not new, many of them, and each with its own story: Thunk , as far as I know, has always been considered jocular when used by an adult; it is a child's common paradigmatic error. From the Macquarie Dictionary: thunk verb a jocular past tense or past participle of `think': I thunk and...

I don't think the "opportunity" meaning of "to get to do something" enters into this question, but rather "I've got to do something" meaning "I have to do something". I think that maybe only the British use the past tense of "I've got to do it": "I had got to do it" = "I had to do it". And...

This book looked promising – it was subtitled A How-Not-To Guide to the 47 Most Common Mistakes in English Made by Journalists, Broadcasters, and Others Who Should Know Better – and in the first few pages I came across a passage referring to that group: What did these people study in high...