In Expressions^x, Modals^x, Past tenses^x

Kilimanjaro wrote Hello Cool Breeze This sentence is taken from Michael SWAN s Practical English Usage He says might can be used in such contextsHi KilimanjaroYes I know it s from that book You mentioned it in a previous post I didn t say it was right or wrong in my opinion I said I wouldn t use...

why can t we expect the third sentence Be patient The real answer to this doesn t come until the end of this post Because modals don t work the same way as other verbs especially in the perfect tenses A modal perfect tense is in many ways equivalent to a past tense The simple past of the modal in...

Let s spread out the issue a little bit ____ O ____ Type 2 Basic forms a If we caught the 10 o clock train we would could might etc get there by lunch time b If I came into a fortune I would give up smoking c If I knew how it worked I could tell you what to do In these sentences the conditional...

Thanks for your reply MrP 1 I would call it an exclamatory conditional The main clause is left unspoken but we can usually infer it e g if only she would contact me I would be very happy Ok it s a conditional with an unexpressed result but still a conditional right In this case would you refer to...

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 then maybe not even they...

1 Use of present perfect tense and simple past tense Speakers of American English generally use the present perfect tense have has past participle far less than speakers of British English In spoken American English it is very common to use the simple past tense as an alternative in situations...

The choice was his alone If he opened the door there came out of it a hungry tiger which immediately jumped on him and tore him to pieces as punishment for his guilt This is from a book Is this sentence correct JT PERFECTLY CORRECT just a bit literary and reminiscent of an older form of English...

Mr M You are choosing one interpretation I have chosen two JTT That s my point Mr M You have given an interpretation that I m afraid to say just doesn t square with reality Mr M A little while ago he went to the lease renewal office to renew his lease The clerk told him then that he couldn t can...