Search results for 'tag:Paragraphs tag:Present simple' matching tags 'Paragraphs' and 'Present simple'

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: use of I "would"

Anonymous — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 18:11:52 GMT

ElevenTattic wrote:

I think you'd rather say "Wherever I look, I see her." without "would", because:

(apparently) the sentence is about anywhere you look, you can see her, and this kind of sentences is about something that's always or usually happening. "The Present Simple" is used in this kind of sentences, when you want to convey a meaning of something that's usually happening, for example:

"I play football everyday." means that football is a habit, that's usually (or even always) happening, and most importantly you "still" have this habit, and you'll still be playing football tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, etc

Hi, ElevenTattic

Let me disagree. Both the OP's original sentences (Wherever I looked I'd see her and Wherever I'd look, I'd see her) are OK, as Tidus wrote, and they both clearly refer to the past.

I'd see her = I would see her, where would expresses past habit / action that regularly happened in the past.

See http://www.1-language.com/englishcoursenew/unit45_grammar.htm (paragraph "past habit").

Re: Quick help needed, this is important (grammar).

Ant_222 — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 17:17:41 GMT

«...you said that it should be had been, but IMHO using Present Perfect Continuous is more correct, due to the general usage of this tense - actions or events that began in the past and are lasting til now or have recently ended. Notice that they still work as bus drivers»

I wanted to put it as in a narration: by _that_ moment they had been... You refer to some problem the drivers met in the past, all the other verbs of the paragraph are in Past Simple, so I am not sure whether Present Perfect would sound ok in such "environment"...

«Before the conference I would never have thought that translating a lecture about the history of fashion can (you said that it ought to be could, but why?) be so difficult.»

Is short, I prefered "could" due to Sequence of Tenses. However, in this particular case, Present Simple might work also.

P.S.: Now, after your questions and Anonymous' comment, doubts have crept into my mind...

P.P.S: Let's ask a more competent person to help us! Nona, could you please give us a peace of advice as to these two questions of Jacek?

Re: This is for the M3 Class Writing Exercise on 23rd November

Laurence — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 18:36:13 GMT

Comments on ClassStudent3âs Writing

I can see the four paragraphs you have posted separately here â fantastic!

Paragraph 1

Get the title right â Sixth Sense!

That you are writing on the Internet is not an excuse for being careless with capital letters and punctuation. You need capital letters for peopleâs names, the title of the film, and the name of the film company. So, paragraph 1 is three sentences:

âThe Sixth Sense is a story of a boy who is played by Haley Joel Osment who moves from the city when his father passes away. [NEW SENTENCE] Struck with grief and loneliness he develops a special talentâ¦â

Notice I changed âpast awayâ to âpasses awayâ. You normally use present simple to describe the story.

Paragraph 2

Why did you use âbutâ? I think you mean âandâ.

Two possibilities here:

Even though some people complained that the movie was too scary, it was a huge successâ¦

Some people complained that the movie was too scary, but it was a huge successâ¦

Paragraph 3

Some great vocabulary here, e.g. âdie hard film loversâ, âI donât want to bore youâ¦â

BUT, you need to think about where sentences start and stop. You have capital letter at the beginning of every line (I think Word did this automatically), but you need them at the beginning of every sentence.

Paragraph 4

âWrap upâ â great colloquial language!

âI recommend +ingâ, e.g. âI recommend watching.â

Really good work, well done.

Now you need to decide where sentences start and finish, and get the capital letters and full stops right.

Laurence

all the general forms of English tenses >> pleas help me.

Voltaire101 — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 11:05:10 GMT

hello all

I will put (write) here all the general forms of the English grammar tenses as I know (understand ) it, I want you to chek it and correct me. Sometimes there is no form (just a speace), I want you to write the general form of the kind of the tense that is detected.

I'm so sorry If my grammar or idea not clear for you in the last paragraph; I hope the idea is received.

In English grammar there are 12 tenses consists of (present,past and future)
each on of them consists of 4 parts
1- simple.
2- continuous.
3- perfect.
4- perfect continuous.

add to that 4 parts of the future :

1- future simple in the past or present conditional.
2- continuous future in the past or present continuous conditional.
3- perfect future in the past or past conditional.
4- perfect continuous in the past or past continuous conditonal.
.........

I will put the general forms , pleas check it.

these are the shorten words that I used in the forms:

this color is for He, She, It.

this color is for I, You, We, They.

without any clor for all pronouns : He, She, It, I, You, We, They.

v~s = verb end by ''s'' like "He writes to them".

v~ing = verb end by "ing" like "He is writting to them".

v(P.P) = verp in past participle.

v(base) = verb in base case.

------------------------------------------------------------

1- Present simple:
Affirmative
subject + v(~s/base) + object. (active voice)
object + (is/are) + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Negative
subject + (does/do) + not + v(base) + object. (active voice)
object + (is/are) + not + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Interrogative
(does/do) + subject + v(base) + object ? (active voice)
(is/are) + object + v(P.P) + by subject ? (passive voice)

2- Present continuous:
Affirmative
subject + (is/are) + v~ing + object. (active voice)
object + (is/are) + being + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Negative
subject (is/are) + not + v~ing + object. (active voice)
object + (is/are) + not + being + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice

Interrogative
(is/are) + subject + v~ing + object ? (active voice)
(is/are)+ object being + v(P.P) + by subject ? (passive voice)

3- Present perfect:
Affirmative
subject + (has/have) + v(P.P) + object. (active voice)
object + (has/have) + been + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Negative
subject + (has/have) + not + v(P.P) + object. (active voice)
object + (has/have) + not + been + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Interrogative
(has/have) + subject + v(P.P) + object ? (active voice)
(has/have) + object + been + v(P.P) + by subject ? (passive voice)

4- Present perfect continuous:
Affirmative
subject + (has/have) + been + v~ing + object. (active voice)
### ..............I don't konw, pleas write it ................### . (passive voice)

Negative
subject + (has/have) + not + been + v~ing + object. (active voice)
### .............I don't konw, pleas write it ................### . (passive voice)

Interrogative
(has/have) + subject + been + v~ing + object ? (active voice)
### .............I don't konw, pleas write it ...............### ? (passive voice)

5- Past simple:
Affirmative
subject + v(p) + object. (active voice)
object + (was/were) + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Negative
subject + did + not + v(base) + object. (active vice)
object + (was/were) + not + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Interrogative
did + subject + v(base) + object ? (active voice)
(was/were) + object + v(P.P) + by subject ? (passive voice)

6- Past continuous:
Affrmative
subject (was/were) + v~ing +object. (active voice)
object + (was/were) + being + v(P.P) +by subject. (passive voice)

Negative
subject + (was/were) + not + v~ing + object. (active voice)
object + (was/were) + not + being + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Interrogative
(was/were) + subject +v~ing + object ? (active voice)
(was/were) + object + being + v(P.P) by subject ? (passive voice)

7- Past perfect:
Affirmative
subject + had + v(P.P) + object. (active voice)
object + had + been + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Negative
subject + had + not + v(P.P) + object. (active voice)
object + had + not + been + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Interrogative
had + subject + v(P.P) + object ? (active voice)
had + object + been + v(P.P) ? (passive voice)

8- Past perfect cotinuous:
Affirmative
subject + had + been + v~ing +object. (active voice)
### .............I don't konw, pleas write it ...............### ? (passive voice)

Negative
suject + had + not + been + v~ing + object. (active voice)
### .............I don't konw, pleas write it ...............### ? (passive voice)

Interrogative
had + subject + been + v~ing + object. (active voice)
### .............I don't konw, pleas write it ...............### ? (passive voice)

9- Future simple:
Affirmative
subject + will + v(base) + object. (active voice)
object + will + be + v(P.P) + by + subject. (passive voice)

Negative
subject + will + not + v(base) + object. (active voice)
object +will + not + be + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Interrogative
will + suject + v(base) + object ? (active voice)
will + object + be + v(P.P) + by subject ? (passive voice)

10- Future continuous:
Affirmative
subjec + will + be + v~ing + object. (active voice)
object + will + be + being + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Negative
subject + will + not + be + v~ing + object. (active voice)
object + will + not + be + being + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Interrogative
will + subject + be + v~ing + object ?(active voice)
will + object + be + being + v(P.P) + by subject ? (passive voice)

11- Future perfect:
Affirmative
subject + will + have + v(P.P) + object. (active voice)
object + will + be + have + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Negative
subject + will + not + have + v(P.P) + object. (active voice)
object + will + not + be + have + v(P.P) + by suject. (passive voice)

Interrogative
will + sbject + have + v(P.P) + object ? (active voice)
will + object + be+ have + v(P.P) + by subject ? (passive voice)

12- Future perfect continuous
Affirmative
subject + will + have + been + v~ing + object. (active voice)
object + will + have + been + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Negative
subject + will + not + have + been + v~ing + object. (active voice)
object + will + not + have + been + v(P.P) + by subject. (passive voice)

Interrogative
will + subject + have + been + v~ing + object ? (active voice)
will + object + have + been + v(P.P) + by subject ? (passive voice)

------------------------------------------------------------------

The four other kinds of future ; I do't know about its certain forms pleas write me the certain forms about its affirmative, negative and interrogative ... pleas

don't forget the acive voice and passive voice of its forms,

Brief description of market situation?

Winpoj — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 23:27:33 GMT

Hello,

I'm aware that in newspaper headlines a very special kind of grammar (or lack thereof) is used (all verbs in present simple, often no articles...). But how about headings in other types of text?

I'm writing a document for an advertising campaign. One of the paragraphs will be devoted to a brief description of the situation on the market. Can I use the following heading for the paragraph: "Brief description of market situation" (no articles)?

Looking forward to some advice.

A few questions

Guest — Mon, 10 Jan 2005 09:35:19 GMT

I have a few questions about an article I read:
1. Custom has not been commonly regarded as a subject of any great moment.
What is "great moment"?

2. There is no social problem it is more incumbent upon us to understand than this of the role of custom.
"it is"? or "it " should be replaced by "that"?

3. Anthropology was by definition impossible as long as these distinctions between ourselves and the primitive, ourselves and the barbarian, ourselves and the pagan, held sway over prople's minds. It was necessary first to arrive at that degress of sophistication where we no longer set our own belief over against our neighbour's superstition. It was necessary to recognize that these institutions which are based on the same premise, let us say the supernatural, must be considered together, our own among the rest.
The whole article is in the present simple tense,but this paragraph is in the past simple tense, why? In the clause"... where we no longer set our own belief over against our neighbour's superstition", is the verb "set" in the past simple tense? thank you very much.