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Re: hope and sorry

In some cases this is possible, but not in general. You would typically have some sort of modal verb there. I'm sorry you are leaving us so soon. I'm sorry you have to have such a serious operation next month. I'm sorry you can't attend the party tonight. CJ

ESL General English Grammar Questions by CalifJim 141 days ago Verbs, Tenses, Present Tenses, Modals, Past Tenses, Modal Verbs
conditional

Hi, Are these all examples of the first conditional? If a if-clause is in the present tense, then any modal verbs can be used and it would still be a first conditional sentence? A zero conditional sentence is the one only states general rules and can't use modal verbs? All first...

ESL General English Grammar Questions by Anonymous 205 days ago Verbs, Tenses, Clauses, Present Tenses, Modals, Conditionals, Modal Verbs
Re: case of subjunctive in the 'if' clause?

It's not subjunctive. It's the modal use of need . Modal need can occur in non-assertive contexts. Modals never take the s in the first person singular of the present tense the way non-modal verbs do. In that way they resemble subjunctive forms, which are also missing the s . The...

ESL General English Grammar Questions by CalifJim 259 days ago Verbs, Tenses, Subjunctives, Clauses, Modal Verbs, Modals, Expressions, Present Tenses
Re: He's not/He isn't

Google counts, if you trust them: he isn't 2,240,000 he's not 1,910,000 I would not consider this a significant difference. I imagine the others that use the present tense of to be are about the same proportionally. With modal verbs, however, the cases where the word not is...

ESL General English Grammar Questions by CalifJim 1 yr 41 days ago Verbs, Tenses, Present Tenses, Modals, Modal Verbs
Re: use of modal verb "could"

Neeraj Jain wrote: Hi Maris, If I have just one sentence: I could play tennis well. can it be used to refer to the present tense? Strictly speaking, only to conditional future (or past, of course). See my examples above. Some see that as kind of a present.

ESL General English Grammar Questions by Marius Hancu 1 yr 46 days ago Verbs, Tenses, Present Tenses, Modals, Conditionals, Modal Verbs
Re: use of modal verb "could"

Hi Maris, If I have just one sentence: I could play tennis well. can it be used to refer to the present tense?

ESL General English Grammar Questions by Neeraj Jain 1 yr 46 days ago Verbs, Tenses, Present Tenses, Modals, Modal Verbs
Re: "I thought..."

CalifJim wrote: After "mental" verbs in the past tense use the past tense or the past of a modal verb (e.g., would, might, could ) I late. CJ As I have said, I would also use the past tense here, but I wasn't sure about the possibility of using the present tense. And then I came...

ESL General English Grammar Questions by Loojka 1 yr 69 days ago Verbs, Tenses, Present Tenses, Modals, Past Tenses, Modal Verbs
Re: past perfect vs past in if-clause in type 2 conditional

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...

ESL General English Grammar Questions by yulysess 1 yr 155 days ago Regards, Grammar, Verbs, Constructions, Tenses, Clauses, Present Tenses, Past Perfect, Modals, Expressions, Universities, Past Tenses, Conditionals, English Grammar, Modal Verbs

Re: "shall" and "will" for 18th century readers: interchangeable?

Ok, I got it but I don't know how to put the link here so i'll just paste the context here. This was given by CalifJim as response to the subject "Conditional with Modal Verbs"... Strictly speaking, the modals are not tensed. However, they...

ESL General English Grammar Questions by

Intelligent Freak 1 yr 159 days ago Verbs, Tenses, Clauses, Present Tenses, Modals, Past Tenses, Conditionals, Modal Verbs, Images

Re: subjunctive or past conditional

Taka wrote: Remember, just because the modal verb 'would' appears in the main clause, this doesn't mean that the verb in the if clause must be in the subjunctive if the content of that clause is not presupposed to be false. The above is related to the following example sentence: ...

ESL General English Grammar Questions by Bokeh 1 yr 209 days ago Articles, Verbs, Tenses, Clauses, Present Tenses, Modals, Subjunctives, Modal Verbs

In Modal verbsx, Present tensesx, Verbsx

In Modal verbs^x, Present tenses^x, Verbs^x