By Past tenses

Re: past perfect

Hi, Won't that be confusing to the reader since you use past tense to describe both events; in the past's past and in the past. Reader won't knowwhether you're still describing events that happened at the store or you've returned to the original time point (before the time...

Re: When is/was your first time you kiss/kissed a guy?

Can I generalize and say "first time" always goes with past tense? When was the first time you flew a plane? When was the first time you drove a hummer/tank? When was the first time you took a girl to the movies?

Re: past perfect

Sorry, I promise this is my last post.Won't that be confusing to the reader since you use past tense to describe both events; in the past's past and in the past. Reader won't knowwhether you're still describing events that happened at the store or you've returned to the...

Re: "I would be surprised..."

I was concentrating on the choice between were and was (subjunctive vs. indicative), and I neglected to address the choice between was/were and is (past vs. present). You're referring to the use of past throughout once the main clause introduces the past tense. Hmmm. Defend it? That's...

Re: "I would be surprised..."

CJ, I'm not quite sure I get your explanation. MH has a very good point but I remember you said a long time ago (probably a year) that in cases like this, nativespeakers tend to use the past tense throughout. I've been trying to apply that butI have to say, MH's view makes more...

Re: A question about Style

Hello, mr. Micawber Looks like I have to provide some further explanations. In a traditional text adventure the player enters text commands which are parsed/interpreted by the game's engine, and gets the result in the form a textual description. In the example above the commands were marked...

Re: tenses for the past

This is my thought. The context above really doesn't need to be in past perfect continous. The meaning can be easily expressed in simple past tense. If you were talking about events which took place years ago over a span of times, past perfect then is fine.i.e. Before the first transistor...

A question about Style

Hello everybody! Probably, you already know of my infamous venture —the translation of an adventure game called Star Heritage. Below I'll repeat part of my answer to Huevos, whom I shall thank for accidently reminding me of the problem that I now ask you to help me with: «I have tried to...

Re: Past tense, fall and fallen (Guest:Ashish)

No, I'm sorry. Please see the prior posts which make it clear that it's would have fallen. Also, please note that the original post is from 2003, and the original poster is probably no longer here to profit from further advice, especially since the correct answer was given long ago. We...

Re: difference between may and might

There is no difference between may and might worth agonizing about. may sounds a bit more formal to my ear. And may cannot be used where a past tense is required in tense matching: I knew I might be late. Not I knew I may be late. In other situations, both are used the same way. Use the...