Search results for 'tag:Negatives tag:Past tenses' matching tags 'Negatives' and 'Past tenses'

Re: subjunctive mood

Huevos — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 00:24:19 GMT

This is just a negative of a standard type 2 conditional. I would sell it to you if it shot straight. This construct is used where fulfilment of the if clause is improbable or impossible, but still current. By the way it is not past tense, its imperfect subjunctive, although the two are identical in form.

Re: all possible uses of WOULD

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 08:24:56 GMT

Some uses:

Would functions as a more formal and more polite alternative to will.
Would can refer to typical habitual actions and events in the past and often occurs in narratives:
Would rather and would sooner are used to talk about preference and/or alternatives.
Would versus Should: Should occurs as a more formal alternative to would with first person subjects in hypothetical clauses, in future-in-the-past clauses and in clauses where would can occur as a softener or hedge.
Would can function as the past tense in reported clauses.
Would can refer to future-in-the past when the speaker looks forward from a point in the past.
Volition: Would may be used to refer to volition in past time situations.
Responding: Would (especially the negative wouldnât) can refer in past time contexts to how inanimate things responded or failed to respond to human intervention.
Conditional sentences: Would is common in the main clause of hypothetical conditional sentences.
Hedging: Would is often used with verbs such as advise, imagine, recommend, say, suggest, think as a softener or hedge.
Requests: Would is frequent in requests. It is a more polite or indirect form of will.

chossing correct tense/tense consistency

MaxMaximus — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:08:59 GMT

Greetings,

I have a pretty big favour to ask.

I've been struggling with this topic for quite awhile now.It goes without saying that my English "leaves something to be desired".

Having in mind the subtle differences that occur from using particular tenses, I have often wondered how the authors of following exercises expect anyone to choose the correct form, without providing sound and unambiguous references.

I've uploaded 2 exercises that I stumbled upon :

1. http://rapidshare.com/files/138835945/HP.txt.html
and
2.http://rapidshare.com/files/138835946/redundancy.txt.html

I have converted them into .txt files to ease moderators' job.

They present the essence of my inability to comprehend and do right.

First text:
1. First sentence, adverb "always" stands before the verb (author did not bother to put it in the brackets (always/be)). If she is dead (we don't know that until we have finished reading) or if she is not "a fighter" anymore (we are clueless about that either), - we could use Past Simple. Of course, Present Perfect is more likely choice, but the position of adverb puzzles.

2."But, prior to..." - Past Continuous or Past Perfect?

3.The sentence : "it (be)__ slow to notice..".I'm not sure whether Past Simple or Past Perfect should be used here.There is no strong reference whether this "slow noticing" occurred prior to her arrival or about the time when she came on board.

4."Those three years are not over..". The starting point is present time, but, that has nothing to do with the moment when she realized how things stand, which I know nothing about.Even the Present Simple is possible if she keeps realizing everyday that things are harder than she expected.For the rest of the paragraph I'm not certain whether Present Perfect should be used.

5."Above all,.." - from Present Simple (finds, is trying, is going to embark)...to Present Perfect (has found, has tried/has been trying, has embarked)...The tenses chosen in these sentences determine the tenses of the last paragraph in the text.

Second text:
1. First sentence: we could use Future Simple as well as Present Simple for the verb "have to"?

2. "Although no business or industry..". If there was a recent survey - do interviewed subjects still claim what they have said - or the use of Past Tense is obligatory? The word "any" is used in interrogative or negative sentences - but here, no question is being asked nor it is possible to be negative. Instead, "some" should have been used, I think.

3. "Those who have..." - Present Continuous or Present Simple? Former is more likely choice although the latter is possible also.

4. "In the past.." - as far as I know this presents the "indefinite moment in time". The Present Perfect could be used - but the position of adverb "always" confuses, again.

I would be more than grateful to anyone who can shed some light on these issues.
If I could reach to any other decent credible source I wouldn't ask for help in this way.

Thanks in advance,
Georgie.

Re: Was + going or did not??

CalifJim — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 08:34:17 GMT

A negative (not) in the simple past tense with a verb that shows an action (go) indicates that an event did not happen. There was never a completion of the event -- no arrival at the doctor's.

If an event was never completed, there is no time at which it happened.

So the sentence says,

There was no time at which she went to the doctor's and arrived there, and at that time I saw her.

But there is nothing that "that time" can refer to, because there was no time that any arrival at the doctor's happened.

_____

With the progressive form, however, there is no focus on the completion of an event, so the meaning changes to the following:

For a period of time she was in the process of doing something other than traveling to the doctor's, and during that time period, I saw her.

____

To summarize: The simple past (did not go) is about arrival at a destination. The past progressive (was not going) is about traveling -- being in motion.

Re: What did he say? What was it he said?

Philip — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:59:03 GMT

Why is it that we say, "What did he/she say?" or "What did I say?" even when it is past tense?
We use 'did' in making a past tense sentence interrogative or negative, using the base form of the verb.

As a follow-up question to those kind enough to answer, is there a difference between 'do' and 'have' that allows the different conjugation of the verb 'to say' in the different examples, or is this just simply a case of the strange way grammar works?
What did you say ~ What have you said.

Re: I used to; Iâm used to

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 23:19:31 GMT

Eladio wrote:
Whatâs the difference between these two sentences? I read both in a dictionary and Iâm confused.

She wasnât used to him away but she soon got used to it. Now she is used to seeing him once in a year.
She didnât use to him away but she soon got used to it. Now she is used to seeing him once in a year.

The point is that I believe to understand that âShe used toâ is a past tense, so âShe didnât use toâ¦â is the negative form of this past tense. Now, âSheâs used toâ is a present tense, so the negative form of this present tense is âShe isnât used toâ¦â. Now, âShe wasnât used toâ¦â sounds to me like a negative (another?) form of the past tense. Is that correct? In above sentences the use of past forms âwasnâtâ and âdidnâtâ tends to confuse, I believe, to a not English speaker, and to think that both are different forms of the past.
Did you use to play tennis when you were younger? (Past, right?)
Are you used to play tennis? (Present, right?)
I donât know if Iâm being clear in explaining my confusion.

Dear Mister Micawber and MrPedantic thank you for your help with my post âPlease, help!!â. Mister Micawber, your advice related to the title of that post (âPlease, help!!) is important to me. The fact is that Iâm a native Spanish speaker and Iâm certainly learning the real spoken English in streets and with all of you in EnglishForums; I mean, in Spanish âPlease, help!!â doesnât implies necessarily a panic situation. Weâre used to use many exclamation marks. So, Iâm sorry. And I would like to thank CalifJim and Clive for their help with my recent post âNeedless / unnecessaryâ.

Hi Eladio,

In addition to the experts' comment, here is my two cents if that may help...

I used to lived next door to John = sometime ago, John was my neighbor. [used to] is a phrasal expression which denotes the long-gone past . i.e. if someone said "I used to care about you", it means the caring no longer exists any more. The use of this phrase is not so much concerned with the exact past time but what happened in the past.

My parents used to take me to the parks on Sundays when I was little.

Be used to means something differenet. i.e. I am used to having my coffee black. This means I am accustomed to drinking coffee without sugar.

Re: did you go OR did you went

Teachmepls — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 23:53:55 GMT

Thanks CJ for the reply.

The tense is carried out by auxiliary verb in past tense, why do we need to change the past verb to bare infinity in question and negative form. such as "did you go " in other tense you dont alter verb

such as "i am going" "are you going"

why do we need to change the verb only in past tense.any specific reason.

Thanks

Re: I need your help,please.

Avangi — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 07:36:54 GMT

1. "women" - use plural to match "the elderly" & "are more LIKELY"

2. The goals of our program ARE - use plural verb with plural subject

3. MANY benefits - "Much" is for stuff; "many" is for things you can count.

4. there IS a lot of space (missing verb in clause) & IN which he could write (or) WHERE he could write

5. (wrong choice of conjunctions) use "but" instead of "or"

6. in ALMOST every country

7. is EXTREMELY important (use adverb form to modify predicate adjective)

8. positive OR negative (conjunction)

9. While I WAS TAKING a walk (past tense to match "saw") & RAKING (wrong words - "talking" for "taking" and "ranking" for "raking")

10. to care FOR their parents

11. five LAPTOP TESTS ("tests" is a noun - object of the preposition - and is plural because there are five. "Laptop" is an adjective in this case and doesn't have to agree. It could be a noun if used alone, like "Five laptops were found to be defective.")

12. INSECTS (plural to agree with animals) & I think "fossilized" is the better adjective & I'd suggest using two separate sentences: "insects. Fossilized" & a period at the end

13. I think this is okay. It needs a period at the end.

Congratulations on your first post!

Re: simple past vs present perfect

Yankee — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 14:58:01 GMT

Barb, we use 'yet' quite often with the simple past tense -- in interrogative and negative sentences. Have you forgotten sentences such as "Jeet yet?"
(Did you eat yet?)

Re: will/would

CalifJim — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 23:04:09 GMT

As a stand-alone sentence, "would" is for the past.

Actually, to split hairs, it's "would not" that's for the past. It gives the sense of "refused to".

My parents wouldn't allow me to go to the party.

Without the not (n't), I don't get the sense that it's a past tense.

My parents would allow me to go to the party sounds more like the hypothetical present than the past to me --sticking with the idea of a "stand-alone sentence". (As always, I grant that dressing this up with more words to give it another context could change the sense of the sentence.)

I wonder if there are any other cases in English where the tense we "feel" depends on the presence of a negative. This one's strange.

CJ