Search results for 'tag:Constructions tag:Past simple' matching tags 'Constructions' and 'Past simple'

Re: if clause

Hoa Thai — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 12:31:03 GMT

Devrim55 wrote:
If we ...........ready for the YDS exam decently, we .........at least two and a half hours a day for reading questions.

a)were to get / should have spared

b)got / would have spared

c)are to get / had spared

d)have gotten / would spare

e)have to get / must have spared

thanks in advance...

Hi,

Here is a structure of conditional sentences: if condition statement, result statement.

From that structure, we have 4 basic conditional constructions:

Type zero - condition statement uses present simple, result statement uses present simple.

Type I â condition statement uses present simple, result statement uses shall / will / can/ may + base verb.

Type II â condition statement uses past simple, result statement uses should / would / could / might + base verb.

Type III â condition statement uses past perfect, result statement uses should / would / could / might + have + past participle.

None of the 5 choices matches with any pattern shown above.

Re: Please help correct my grammar to my friend

Quangtn03 — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 05:25:25 GMT

Newbie2007 wrote:
Quangtn03 wrote:
Hi newbie.
"I wish you will have..." is a true conditional sentence. I think this is a letter so the writer have a wish for his friend.

The latter is "I wish you will be happy", not "I wish be happy". He write for friend not for himself.

Are you ok? Tell me what do you think?

HÃ¬, the first, I'm sure of using would. You can't use the simple tense.

The latter : "I wish you would be happy" is different from "I wish to be happy (wish + infinitive; NOT bare infinitive). That's right.

-> I wish you would have a great day, be happy and pass the exam well.

Can you make a difference between the followings sentences ?

I wish you would have a good trip, successful in your study.

I wish you woul have a good trip, be sucessful in your study.

The first is wrong because of lack of be. The last is right. But you can say like this "I would you would be happy and healthy (without be)"

Be is a verb.

Do you agree with me on that ?

Right. You were right. I've had a review of grammar "Wish". I will paste here for you.
Wish + Past simple/ Past continuous.
This is used to express wishes about present situations or states. These constructions are often used to show dissatisfaction or a desire for things to be different.
1, It can refer to situations or states that cannot possibly change. (presence)
            I wish it didn't have such big feet
            I wish I wasn't the oldest child in my family.
2, It can also refer to situations which could possibly change in the future.
            I wish I had enough money to buy an Armani shirt.
            I wish you were coming on holiday with us.

The latter : "I wish you would be happy" is different from "I wish to be happy (wish + infinitive; NOT bare infinitive). That's right.

I don't know the structure of "I wish to be happy" yet, but I think you were right again . I will find it out soon.

"Be" is a verb. Right. You were right again.
Great. Nice to meet you guy.

Re: The bank was robbed

Philip — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:18:49 GMT

Kooyeen wrote:
Hi,
Could someone comment on these? I don't understand the difference between present perfect and past simple in passive constructions. Can both of the tenses be used, even if something just happened? (for example, the bank was robbed 1 minute ago or later)

Holy cannoli! What a mess... You guys all seem pretty upset! What happened?
Oh, the bank's been robbed. They took about a million dollars

Holy cannoli! What a mess... You guys all seem pretty upset! What happened?
Oh, the bank was robbed. They took about a million dollars

I don't know why I'm having such doubts, but I feel I'd tend to use the present perfect in passive constructions, even though I usually only use the past simple in active constructions (you know I use American English).
Thanks

I think both are fine. Perhaps the first one is a little more recent. I'm sure you understand that 's = "has" rather than "is"

The bank was robbed

Kooyeen — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 22:35:50 GMT

Hi,
Could someone comment on these? I don't understand the difference between present perfect and past simple in passive constructions. Can both of the tenses be used, even if something just happened? (for example, the bank was robbed 1 minute ago or later)

Holy cannoli! What a mess... You guys all seem pretty upset! What happened?
Oh, the bank's been robbed. They took about a million dollars

Holy cannoli! What a mess... You guys all seem pretty upset! What happened?
Oh, the bank was robbed. They took about a million dollars

I don't know why I'm having such doubts, but I feel I'd tend to use the present perfect in passive constructions, even though I usually only use the past simple in active constructions (you know I use American English).
Thanks

Re: Being

Clive — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 13:18:28 GMT

Hi,

She is at her desk, being afraid of something.

Is this sentece above correct? Can I leave the being out? Yes, leave it out.

Can I use being in the past simple sentence below? Again, leave it out.

She was at her desk, being afraid of something.

It's an odd phrase in your context. This construction with 'being' is possible but uncommon. It is normally placed at the front of the sentence to specify a reason, eg Being the best employee, she was promoted to supervisor. You don't seem to be specifying a reason in your examples, so you should omit 'being'.

The tense of the main verb does not matter.

Best wishes, Clive

Re: Correct order in which to parse a verb?

Garnett — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 14:29:51 GMT

Mister Micawber wrote:

Future Simple (I will sit)
Future Continuous/Progressive (I will be sitting)
Future Perfect (I will have sat")
Present Simple (I sit)
Past Simple (I sat)
Past Continuous/Progressive (I was sitting)
Past Perfect (I had sat)
Past Perfect Continuous/Progressive (I had been sitting)

Any I've missed? -- See VERB FORMS

Also can you hjelp me with Moods: Indicative, Subjunctive, Imperative. -- See VERB MOODS

In Latin you use the Jussive Subjuntive for sentences like "Let them eat cake", or "Let's go to the park". What is this construction in English? This is a causative imperative (I think).

Awesome. Thanks for those references.

Mister Micawber wrote:
"The bus stop was situated outside the airport - 3rd person singular, passive (or more probably active with the linking verb be and a predicate adjective), indicative." Are you parsing "be" here, then? -- Yes

Cool. That's what I thought.

Mister Micawber wrote:
Just because "situated" is being used as a participle adjective here, doesn't mean it can't be parsed like any other verb. It is a PPP isn't it - past passive participle? -- Not if it is an adjective.

I disagree.

In "the flying machine", "flying" can be parsed (at least partially) - Active present participle.

Participle Adjective: "A form of a verb that in some languages, such as English, can function independently as an adjective, as the past participle baked in We had some baked beans, and is used with an auxiliary verb to indicate tense, aspect, or voice, as the past participle baked in the passive sentence The beans were baked too long." ~ from Dictionary.com.

Is it a verb being used as an Adjective, or an out-and-out adjective? Frfom the definition above I would argue the former.

Mister Micawber wrote:
Don't confuse form and function. It is wisest to call it simply an -ed verb form

I think that's the crux.

Have you sen my thread here?

What are your thoughts?

I believe "stood" can replace "situated" in the sentence "I was situated at the bus stop".

"Situated" is defined in the dictionary as an adjective in its own right. "Stood" is not.

It appears then, to hinge on whether "situated" is a adjective "with the linking verb be and a predicate adjective" or whether it is a "participle adjective" that could be replaced by any other participle adjective like "stood"...

Re: Correct order in which to parse a verb?

Mister Micawber — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 14:12:20 GMT

Future Simple (I will sit)
Future Continuous/Progressive (I will be sitting)
Future Perfect (I will have sat")
Present Simple (I sit)
Past Simple (I sat)
Past Continuous/Progressive (I was sitting)
Past Perfect (I had sat)
Past Perfect Continuous/Progressive (I had been sitting)

Any I've missed? -- See VERB FORMS

Also can you hjelp me with Moods: Indicative, Subjunctive, Imperative. -- See VERB MOODS

In Latin you use the Jussive Subjuntive for sentences like "Let them eat cake", or "Let's go to the park". What is this construction in English? This is a causative imperative (I think).

"The bus stop was situated outside the airport - 3rd person singular, passive (or more probably active with the linking verb be and a predicate adjective), indicative." Are you parsing "be" here, then? -- Yes

Just because "situated" is being used as a participle adjective here, doesn't mean it can't be parsed like any other verb. It is a PPP isn't it - past passive participle? -- Not if it is an adjective. Don't confuse form and function. It is wisest to call it simply an -ed verb form.

Re: had/would rather

Goodman — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 22:21:15 GMT

Emily__ wrote:

Hi, I found some recommended explanations, but IÂ´m still a bit confused:

1. IÂ´d rather you went.

2. YouÂ´d rather stay.

(I suppose "Â´d" could be either "had" or "would".)

Why there is past simple in 1 and present simple in 2?

Thank you.

Itâs pouring outside. Iâd rather be staying home than going out tonight. â the apostrophe âdâ to me is the contracted form of âwouldâ. âHadâ seems wrong to me.

1. IÂ´d rather you went. âThe construction seems wrong but the apostrophe âdâ is âwouldâ.

2. YouÂ´d (would) rather stay, I presume â ok

Re: How to use i.e. /e.g./ for example /and so on

Jussive — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 23:04:14 GMT

CalifJim wrote:
I avoid answering ...

You just did " src="../emoticons/emotion-2.gif">

Avoid or answer?

I tried responding to the phrasal verb thread and got into some technical difficulties. For some reason, it wouldn't let me post. And then I just forgot about it and never tried again as I got involved in some other threads.

Anyway, I'm still cogitating on phrasal verbs. You know how you start off thinking one thing and by the time you explain why you think that way you end up wondering if you truly do believe it. I'm sort of in that never-never land on phrasal verbs right now, so I prefer to think it over a little more before saying anything even more confusing than I've already said.

As for the subjunctive thread, it seemed to be asking for terminology. I'm not as well-read as I should be on that sort of thing, my attitude being "Call it a monkey if you want"! It's clear that there is an "if only ... would" construction, and an "I wish ..." construction, and an "if I were ..." construction, and I've never found it amusing to speculate on what the best descriptive word (subjunctive, or whatever) might be for each case. My personal preference is to avoid the word "subjunctive" where the word "would" is concerned. I just don't see "would" as a marker of the subjunctive. Other than that I don't have any strong opinions on it (today, anyway!).

CJ

Hi CJ

I was reading an archived post on the subject of the subjunctive (I think by a user called Maria or Mara) and you were on that thread too. She was talking about a similar issue and I just simply disagreed with her. She said that when we use the past simple to refer to a wish or non-fact that it was the 'unmarked subjunctive'. How on earth can it be unmarked if we use the past tense to identify it!

Sometimes I feel I'm going out of my mind looking for answers to my questions. I feel I need to know the answers because I'm new to teaching and I feel I have to make damn sure that I know my target language. If a student points to some construction and asks me if it's the subjunctive or not, I can't reply, 'No, it's a monkey!'

I know what you mean when you say you begin to answer something and then you realise that your answer is leading you to inconsistencies in your own understanding. I'm sure that's a good thing, in some ways, albeit frustrating. Sometimes, when people don't reply to my questions I feel that, either I've asked a really stupid question or a really difficult one. I get paranoid and I don't understand why some people are here.

Some have thousands of posts and I would have thought that meant that they have dealt with every possible grammar question. Because I'm new to teaching, I'm under the assumption that every teacher here knows more about English grammar than I do, and that's why it's really frustrating for me. I feel that, if someone knows the answer to my questions then why don't they just tell me!

If anyone thinks that I should find out the answers for myself, they don't know how wrong they are. Everything I have learnt has been self-taught. I learned everything the hard way and from scratch. If I have a question, you can be sure it derived from some painful research that didn't reveal the answer.

Anyway, thanks for your responses so far, CJ

Jussive

A couple of questions about the subjunctive and hypotheticals

Jussive — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 20:21:36 GMT

1. 'If only she would contact me'. This sentence uses 'if' but there's only one clause so what type of sentence is this? You wouldn't call it a conditional, would you?

2. The above sentence is about a wish and therefore we don't use 'will'. Also, in other such sentences we use the simple past to express a wish or non-fact, eg 'I wish you lived nearer.'

Ok, my question is: Are the above the subjunctive mood?

I know how the present and past subjunctive works, eg 'I demand that he leave!' and 'If I were you', respectively. However, what about the use of the past simple and modals such as 'would' and 'could' to express hypothetical situations, wishes, etc? Are they the subjunctive too, and if not - why not?

I've looked at many different grammar books and such constructions are always kept separately from the subjunctive.

Btw, I understand the 'unmarked subjunctive' to be, for example: 'If you were prime minister...' As we use 'were' in the second person, anyway, the subjunctive is, therefore, 'unmarked'.