Search results for 'tag:Past tenses' matching tag 'Past tenses'

Re: Passive & Active Voice

tanit — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:29:57 GMT

Hi, I'd change these: 5. The sun was eclipsed by the moon. ACTIVE PASSIVE 9. This bone has been buried by the dog . PASSIVE 10. It takes a long time to think of these examples . PASSIVE ACTIVE 13. There was a cup of coffee on the table but now it's gone. ACTIVE 15. Mark was given one month to write this book . ACTIVE PASSIVE As far as your #14 is concerned, I am not sure everybody would agree on this. 14. I was born under a wandering star I was taught that this is technically a passive form, but some regard it as active (Cambridge dictionary lists the verb " be born "). For instance, here's what some of our most prominent members wrote in the forums. (Opinions are split) Clive ( from this post<

Re: HELP!!! independent clauses connected with ,and

billj — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:36:09 GMT

I thought have was needed before spread to keep a single tense. That would be a good solution: They have appeared on message boards and in blogs and have spread by word of mouth. There are no dependent clauses here, by the way --- just an independent clause with a compound predicate. CJ This is not a question of predicate, compound (whatever that means) or otherwise. This is a straightforward example of a compound sentence containing TWO independent clauses, linked by the conjunction ' and '' : and . You can tell there are two clauses because there are TWO VERBS ( have appeared and have spread , or the passive have been spread ). A clause...

Re: Problems with mixed tenses exercises

clive — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:07:25 GMT

Hi, Welcome to the Forum. Problem 1: img687.imageshack.us/img687/4138/testnx.jpg It's much easier for us to respond if you actually post the question here. Most of us don't want to go off and start searching other sites. It takes time and often makes it harder for us to make edits and to respond in a quick way. I've got doubts concerning number 7 (love). According to the key there are 2 possible answers "love/loved". My question is: why is Present Perfect impossible here? To my Polish ear, it just sounds perfect Problem 3: At the dentist's I was on time for my dentist's appointment, but the dentist was still busy with another patient, so I (1)..(sit) in the waiting room and (2).....

Problems with mixed tenses exercises

chudziol — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:14:40 GMT

Hi, I'm a Pole trying to explore the intricacies English This is my first post here so, welcome everybody. And here are my problems. I've done these tests and I even got the key, but there is no freaking way I can understand some answers. Wondering now if it's really so difficult or I'm just so stupid Ok, let's go: Problem 1: img687.imageshack.us/img687/4138/testnx.jpg I've got doubts concerning number 7 (love). According to the key there are 2 possible answers "love/loved". My question is: why is Present Perfect impossible here? To my Polish ear, it just sounds perfect Problem 2: img80.imageshack.us/img80/9406/focusj.jpg Number 20. Can we put "was shutting" here? Or maybe the action of...

Re: Is this sentence correct?

billj — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:26:38 GMT

Hi No, I'm afraid it's not correct. The problem is your use of the verb 'go'. You tried to use the negative form of the simple past tense and wrongly assumed it was 'did not went'. This is a tricky aspect of English verbs which causes many problems. I'll try to explain: In questions the simple present and past tenses are replaced by the the relevant tenses of the verb ' to do ' + the basic (infinitive) form of the verb. The same also applies to the simple tenses in conjunction with ' not ' when we want to form the negative: I really went there. (past tense - positive) Did you really go there? (past tense - question) You did not really go...

Re: Short story

mister micawber — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:51:30 GMT

I have a better idea: I'll give you a short story, and then you write it in different tenses, and we'll check your efforts. Here's one in past tense; please change it to present: The Ant and the Grasshopper In a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart's content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest. "Why not come and chat with me," said the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling and moiling in that way?" "I am helping to lay up food for the winter," said the Ant, "and recommend you to do the same." "Why bother about winter?" said the Grasshopper; we have got plenty of food at present." But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil....

Re: Doubts in Participle.

clive — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:15:20 GMT

Hi, I have doubt in a sentence. "I have reviewed the attachment which u had sent" Can you please let me if the grammar usage in this sentence is correct. I'm puzzled. You care about tenses, but not about spelling the word 'you' correctly. I see no reason here to use Past Perfect. "I have reviewed the attachment which you sent" "I have reviewed your attachment." Best wishes, Clive

Re: Reg past tense "Had"

mister micawber — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:33:16 GMT

'Have' has far too many uses to examine on this thread. Here is one dictionary's list: HAVE –verb (used with object) 1. to possess; own; hold for use; contain: He has property. The work has an index. 2. to hold, possess, or accept in some relation, as of kindred or relative position: He wanted to marry her, but she wouldn't have him. 3. to get, receive, or take: to have a part in a play; to have news. 4. to experience, undergo, or endure, as joy or pain: Have a good time. He had a heart attack last year. 5. to hold in mind, sight, etc.: to have doubts. 6. to cause to, as by command or invitation: Have him c

"because malcolm had never become a cutthroat CEO, he had few enemies"

mkyol — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 02:22:46 GMT

I would like someone to confirm my thoughts on the following sentence, to see if I am on the right track or am just in fantasy lala land, going off on a tangent: "Because Malcolm had never become a cutthroat CEO, he had few enemies." I am pondering about the above sentence, in terms of the tense used. I think the sentence is trying to convey that sometime in the past, Malcolm had few enemies, and this is because going further back into the past from that point, Malcolm was never a cutthroat CEO (he never became one during that time). Compare the above sentence with the following sentence, written in simple past tense: "Because Malcolm never became a cutthroat CEO, he had few enemies." In this case, I think that...

Re: "Used to"

cool breeze — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:28:38 GMT

Does that mean that you can't use it when you are supposed to be using the past participle, or that you just use "used to" whether or not its in the past or past participle? Used to is used in the past tense only. For other tenses other expressions are needed. For example: It has always been his custom/habit to get up early. He has been in the habit of getting up early all his life. CB

Re: Passive

califjim — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:48:36 GMT

I just want to point out the word "could" is indicative of the subjunctive mood Modal verbs don't have tenses and moods in the way that other verbs do. could certainly acts like a past subjunctive in If I could help you, I would. but could , like several other modals, can act in other ways as well, including as a conditional or a simple past. CJ

Re: Can you proofread this? Please!

cyberduck — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:22:04 GMT

Hi there! You're welcome :) Usually, for stories, Past Simple is used, being the narrative tense. For example, in your fragment, the so-called assassin seems to be describing the events that took place one after the other during the day he met that girl. For such, you have to use Past Simple. You can clearly notice the use of tenses if you read a bit from an English book ;) Good luck! PS: What other passage?

Re: Which one is correct ?

andreabritobabapulle — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:29:04 GMT

You have used double past tenses, and I really would recommend that you do not use short forms because the tenses go haywire .. I did not got time is wrong because the words "did not" is always followed by the present tense..i.e.I did not get time(collective), I did not get money (collective),I did not get enough food (collective), I did not hear (present tense verb), I did not see (present tense verb).. etc.. The word "got" is best used to say you received it "I got a dose of medicine", "I Got sick"..Gotten is American and not frequently used in countries where American English is not taught.

Re: Stay

avangi — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:46:49 GMT

jemaasjr is right about the question. In US grammar school, we used to run through the tenses: present tense - I stay, do stay, am staying. We rarely use "I do stay" in this exact form, but it's absolutely essential for questions and negative statements. Do you often stay up late? Don't stay up too late! past tense - I stayed, did stay, was staying (The second one is defined as the past tense of "to do" plus the bare infinitive.) Did you stay for the end of the game? I didn't stay to see the fireworks.

Re: Stay

jemaasjr — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:55:16 GMT

Did you stay up all night in preparation for your study? How come in this sentence instead of stayed we use stay, the reason I ask is because the sentence begins with a past tense verb (did )? Is it because of the modal rule(do/did) so stay is in its base form? Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New...

How come

pleasehelp — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:33:22 GMT

I didn't know you had it in you -- past tense and I don't know you have it in you -- present tense These two sentences are basically the same sentences but in different tenses but how come they sound and essentially mean different things?

Re: Had to/have to

pleasehelp — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:29:39 GMT

Are there any examples where we mix and match present tense, past tense, or even future tenses? I think I've recently heard some and it's messing my logic up. Or ppl around me were just not speaking proper English?

Re: Major issues

pleasehelp — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:26:17 GMT

When it's past tense it's past tense..present...present tense... idk why I'm making this harder on myself... Do we every mix and match tenses ever? Such as past tense....present tense..etcetc...because I think I might've heard some and gotten it mixed up... Any input?

Re: Past tenses for grade 9

jackderrick — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 21:39:27 GMT

These articles are all good. This will help with the Past Simple - Click Here This will help with the Past Continuous - Click Here This is great for a summary of the two - Click Here And this helps with the pronunciation of regular past simple verbs - Click Here This is a story that also helps with the past tenses - Click Here

Re: Grammar

cool breeze — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 08:44:02 GMT

Now if I look up "are," the dictionary tells me that it is the present plural of "be." But what I would expect is that it would tell me that it is the present plural of "am" or "is" because those are the verbs I actually use if I want the singular of "are." MM has given you agood answer; I'll just elaborate a little. It is obvious that you have never been taught the forms of to be and how to use them. (It's never too late to start! ) Are can be singular or plural, by the way. A. the full/complete infinitive: I want to be here. Used after many verbs such as want, expect, desire etc. Also used after adjectives and there are other uses. B. the plain/bare infinitive =...

Re: Grammar

jemaasjr — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 06:02:14 GMT

Something I want to know, is way they use "to be" as the lexeme when the first persion singular "is" seems more obvious, at least to me. The tenses I was obliged to learn in school were future perfect, future, present, past and past perfect.

Re: I bet...

yankee — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 01:12:48 GMT

The verbs in your sentences have different tenses. I bet I stopped listening before you did . bet = simple present tense stopped = simple past tense did = simple past tense (The word "did" is used as a replacement for "stopped".) Your second sentence contains a pretty unlikely tense combination, in my opinion. In fact, it strikes me as simply being bad grammar: I bet I' ve stopped listening before you did . bet = simple present tense

Re: English is hard to learn because ...

anonymous — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 04:27:41 GMT

English is a difficult language to adopt as a second language for so many reasons. Your point about learning Japanese is irrelevant to this 'why English is difficult' conversation. In places like Canada, did you know the reason for having so many different newspapers is because of the reading level that each one has adopted? The lowest reading level being that of a fourth grader. English has tenses, which in turn, all have subtenses (past, past continuous, past perfect etc.) Like the first quote, if two words have the same spelling, it depends if it is a verb or a noun for how it is pronounced. And yes, it does matter how coherent and fluent you are in English because when you don't have your prepositions, conjunctions,...

Re: Tenses and Sentence function

mister micawber — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:02:25 GMT

* I work from 6.00am until 1.00pm every day. - Present simple, a routine (P) * Snow melts when the temperature rises. - Present simple (I), 'a scientific or general truth.' * She has been married for one year. - Present perfect (J) * At 10.30 I was driving to London, as I had missed the train. - Past perfect (B) * They'll definitely have completed the job by Monday. - Future Perfect (R) As CJ or another moderator has already told you, just look at the grammar– don't get distracted by all the real-world events that might have happened before, during or since.

Grammar Past Perfect

anonymous — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 08:43:21 GMT

Could anyoune please explain to me the use of the tenses in the following sentence: "The dull headache I'd had since I killed him had gone." (Winterson 1987, The Passion, 137) My question is why after the word "since" the verb is in the past simple. Didn't the act of killing precede the headache and its "going"? So why use the past simple tense to describe killing and the past perfect to refer to the facts that clearly ensued after the act of killing. Many thanks to everyone who gives her or his explanation.

Re: Past perfect?

ticce — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 05:47:25 GMT

WHat about - I would pay - in this case? Doesn't it refer to the Present or Future Tenses? It turns out that the first part of the sentense says about the Present (Future) and the second about the Past...... is it ok? Whould it be better just to say I would pay once we are paid

Tenses and Sentence function

jeroden2504 — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:05:50 GMT

Hi, I have been working through an exercise, the majority of it went well, but I just need someone to help me to clarify some of the answers below. The assignment first covers the 'Tense' of the question, followed by the function. Thank you for help. It is much appreciated. The Problem Tenses: - Present Simple Past Simple Present Continuous Past Continuous Present Perfect Past Perfect Present Perfect Continuous Past Perfect Continuous Future with “Going To” Future Simple Future Continuous Future Perfect Future Perfect Continuous Functions: - A. A completed action at a specified time in the past B. An action that happened before a specified time in the past C. A definite future event D. ...

Re: Proper conversation usage

grammar geek — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:19:49 GMT

You can wait more than 45 minutes before assuming no one will answer your post. Some of us even sleep at night. In another thread you said you didn't understand the perfect tenses. There is the present perfect tense: I haven't spoken to him. There is the past perfect tense: I hadn't spoken to him. The present perfect connects in some way to the present. It relates a past event to something now. The past perfect is for a past event that is even further in the past than something else. in your original, you refer to a time in the past, and say that it had been even further in the past since you last spoke. That's the past perfect. In your more recent post, you're talking to...

Re: Past tense trouble

clive — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 01:24:04 GMT

Hi, Then don't worry about the Perfect tenses until you get a chance to study them. Clive

Re: The Use of "Double" As an Adjective and Mixing Tenses in a Sentence

clive — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 20:08:19 GMT

Hi, I want to convey that "Next Week, at a certain place, I expect to have double the number of people that are here today." But I want to make this statement tomorrow -- after today's party is over. I made something like this: Next Saturday, I expect to have double the number of people that were present yesterday. Sounds OK. I made this sentence-formation becuase it felt right but I see following two problems. Please advise: (1) Next Saturday, I expect to have double the number of people This part has "Next Saturday" (a day in future) and then uses "I expect" (present tense). Then, in the second part " that were present yesterday" past tense is used. Years ago, my...

The Use of "Double" As an Adjective and Mixing Tenses in a Sentence

anonymous — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 18:36:02 GMT

I want to convey that "Next Week, at a certain place, I expect to have double the number of people that are here today." But I want to make this statement tomorrow -- after today's party is over. I made something like this: Next Saturday, I expect to have double the number of people that were present yesterday. I made this sentence-formation becuase it felt right but I see following two problems. Please advise: (1) Next Saturday, I expect to have double the number of people This part has "Next Saturday" (a day in future) and then uses "I expect" (present tense). Then, in the second part " that were present yesterday" past tense is used. Years ago, my teacher told me that I should never...

Tense and Time References

jeroden2504 — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:02:19 GMT

Hi, I have just finished my assignment concerning sentences tenses and time references. It was a little difficult, but I managed. It would be great, if someone could tell me if I am on the right track. Feedback would be greatly appreciated Thank you for your help. My answers have been written in 'Italics.' Exercise Please look through the following sentences and firstly state which tense is being used (please concentrate on the highlighted verbs only) and secondly decide whether the time which the sentence refers to is the present , the past or the future : I' m travelling to London next week. - Present Continuous - Future I wish I had more time to finish this exercise. - Past Simple - Present ...