Search results for 'tag:Plurals tag:Present tenses' matching tags 'Plurals' and 'Present tenses'

Re: grammar question?

CalifJim — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 17:19:37 GMT

(1) In 1978, a year or so before The Wall was released, Gilmour filed his first solo project, appropriately titled David Gilmour. While the songs don't approach the sublime heights of his best 1970s work, the album does have enjoyable moments, like the rockin' "Cry from the Street" and the poignant "So Far Away,"one of his best vocal turns.

Should it be didn't? Please clarify. No. It should be don't. When speaking of the contents of an artistic work which is currently available to all for examination use the present tense. It doesn't matter when the work was first created.

The plot of the play, written in 1598, is complex.

The songs, released five years ago, are not very melodic.

(2) Twisted Sister join Metallica for their second European tour which started on June 6 and lasted until June 10th. It was soon after this tour that Metallica had their first meeting with future manager and future record label Chris Burnstein from Q Prime, this happened on August 1, 1984. Metallica let the old manager Jon Zazula go on the August 2.

Should it be "joined" or "joins"? Is go okay? Please check in the above sentence. Twisted Sister is a group, so the notional plural join is used. go is OK. The grammar of let is as follows:

let [object] [base form of verb] Let my people go. We let the boys play until 5:30. Don't let them see us.

(3) This is unfortunate, and almost guarantee that the disagreements and accusations will persist among Jimi and the various factions of the Hendrix family.

Should it guarantees? Yes. But maybe two or more things are mentioned in the preceding text which are being referenced here.

(4) Hendrix returned to New York City for more club gigs. In July he saw Fank Zappa, whose band the Mothers of Invention were playing at an adjacent club.

Should it be was? Again the notional plural is used.

(5) He did this by melting plastic bottles into a ball and then using a soldering iron to make holes for his fingers. He fit his fingers into the plastic was it was still pliable enough to be shaped.

Does the bold phrase make sense? Please rephrase for clarity of thought. Typo. It should be while it was still pliable.

(6) Not since Eddie Van Halen has a guitar player been as influential to the prevailing sound of rock music.

Should it be as? No. a guitar player has (not) been as influential is the normal order. The inversion is required after the initial negative not since....

Re: grammar question?

Avangi — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 16:49:30 GMT

(1) (Use simple present, "don't.") The album is eternal, so to speak, and critics may continue to make comments in the present, eg., the album does have enjoyable moments.

(2) Use "joined." All the other comments here are in simple past. "Go" doesn't really have a tense here. It's the bare infinitive. They let him [to] go. The sentence is in simple past because of "let."

People sometimes use present tense for a narrative like this but at this stage you should avoid mixing tenses unless you have a good reason to do so.

(3) Yes. It's simple present tense, 3rd person singular: "it guarantees."

(4) It's your choice. The band is singular but the members are plural. When you say "whose band" it leans a little toward singular, "whose band was playing."

(5) while it was still pliable enough to be shaped.

(6) Has is correct. (I would think "influential in the prevailing sound" or "influential in creating the prevailing sound" or "has a guitar player had so great an influence on the prevailing sound" - I don't know - I'm not happy with any of them. Maybe someone else will have an idea.)

Re: Is this sentence a future or present tense?

Philip — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 23:11:22 GMT

Let's see = 1st person plural suggestion; if he wins = present tense.
However, the future time is obviously implied.

Re: beat or beated or beats

Philip — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 14:09:41 GMT

Anonymous
Hi there, Do I put beat/beats/beated in the following sentence? Thank you

He almost beat me. Is it past tense or present tense?

In the case of the 3rd-person singular, there is no cause for ambiguity: beat ~ beats. In other cases, such as 3rd-person plural, there could be some ambiguity: they almost beat us yesterday, they almost beat us every time we play. Context would normally make it clear.

Re: don't I receive

Vorpar — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 08:32:27 GMT

I would use the plural (if it's all present tense):

"Not only don't I receive compliments, I constantly get criticized."

Re: Grammar Suggestion

Mr Wordy — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:07:57 GMT

Sitting at my writing desk beside the open window, and working on my English assignment, I was stunned/amazed by the soft evening glow, gently landing on my blank sheet and covering the white space with their yellow and orange shades, seemed like gold.

A few comments:

1. "Stunned" implies that you were shocked, which doesn't seem to fit this gentle and reflective scene. "Amazed" doesn't seem quite right either. You would be "amazed" by something very unusual or unexpected, but a soft evening glow is neither. I would suggest "fascinated" or "captivated".

2. Saying that the "glow" is "gently landing" does not sound quite right to me.

3. "the soft evening glow ... with their" has a mismatch of singular/plural.

4. The last part of the sentence, "seemed like gold", is grammatically faulty because the verb "seemed" does not have a subject (in other words, the sentence construction doesn't indicate what thing it is that "seemed"). You might want to study a simpler sentence such as "I was captivated by the sunset, seemed like gold", which is wrong for the same reason.

The tenses in your sentence are fine. You can write a sentence like this in either the past tense or the present tense. Here, you could alternatively write "Sitting at my writing desk ... working ... I am captivated ...". Using the present tense makes the events seem more immediate, as if you are writing while they're actually happening. To me, the present tense is harder to sustain in long passages of first-person narrative text. I find it can become rather tiresome after a while -- but that's just my personal opinion.

Re: Felt like...

Avangi — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 15:42:54 GMT

Hi Mad, With this scant context, it could be taken either way. It's pretty confusing.

"Friends" is plural. Was she paired with one particular guy?

Whom is she talking to? Her date??

"Felt" is past tense, but "is" is present tense. Is she still on the date with this guy (or guys) (or girls) when she makes this statement? (like maybe at the very end of it?)

Is Neil her main squeeze? (Sorry, my eyes are getting bad.) Is Nell her main squeeze? Who the h--- is Nell? (Is Lana a guy?)

Anyway, I'm assuming "tonight" is a noun rather than an adverb. "I had to explain about tonight." Not, "Tonight, I felt like I had to explain to Nell."

It's still "tonight" when she makes the statement. It sounds like Nell is not present. If she has already explained to Nell, she must have covered a lot of ground.

But on the other hand, we don't know what it is she wants to explain. Did she feel she had to explain what happened tonight, or did she feel (in the past) that she had to explain that she was planning to go on a date without him/her??

If she's talking to the guy and they're still on the date, maybe it's, "I felt like I had to explain to Nell, but, you know what? I don't feel that way any longer." Maybe she's just telling him that she feels wierd about having felt obligated to tell Nell all her private business.

Or maybe she's warning "him" that this "date" is no secret from Nell, because she felt obligated to tell her/him.

You're asking me, "Did Lana explain to Nell about tonight?" I'll tell you. I don't know.

Re: correct sentences or not

Cool Breeze — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:57:45 GMT

I see nothing wrong with any sentence. No plural in the first sentence for the very reason that parental example is regarded as a theme. In sentence No. 2 the speaker hopes now and therefore uses the present tense. The subjunctive isn't always used after as if/as though even though it is very common.

Re: Spelling of Plural noun /vs/ the Third-person-singular verb inflection.

CalifJim — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 07:07:21 GMT

All the rules for adding S are the same for plurals as for third-person singular present tense verbs, including the words that end in y.

That said, there are a few exceptions that you will encounter from time to time, for example, words that end in f or fe. There are so few that you can just make a mental note of them when you encounter them.

Noun: loaf, loaves
Verb: loaf, loafs
Noun: knife, knives
Verb: knife, knifes

CJ

Re: a question of "Simple Present Tense"

Mr. Profenglish — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 20:47:48 GMT

Anonymous wrote:

Hi everybody,

I have a question about the Negative Form of "Simple Present Tense", please help me.

Can I use "I don't read the book right now" to express the meaning of "I'm not reading the book right now"?

Thanks a lot in advance.

***********

Here is a summary about the present simple tense with all the forms of it plus examples

* * *

Form

Examples

Notes

Affirmative( Positive ) form:

Base form

S- form

1. Water consists of hydrogen and oxygen.

2. The world is round

3. He always eats a sandwich for lunch

4. My classes begin at nine.

5. She prefers to stay at home.

6. He appears to be asleep.

7. That belongs to me.

8. I remember my first teacher.

9. If you study hard, you will pass the exam.

10. If he comes early, he will catch the bus.

Present Simple Tense is used :

i. to show general statement of fact

ii. to express habitual or everyday activity

iii. with verbs of: senses, mental activity, possession and attitudes

iv. with conditional clauses type one.

Remarks:

Â§ Singular subjects take the S-from

Â§ Plural subjects take the Base form

Â§ ( he, she, it ) + S. form

Â§ ( we, they, you, I ) + Base form

S. = subject

inf. = infinitive form of the verb

S- form = verb + s

Base form = verb without ( s )

Negative form:

(do, does + not + inf.

1. They do not work at the hospital.

2. She does not go to the university everyday

Contracted Negative form:

donât + inf.

doesnât + inf.

1. They donât work in a bank.

2. I donât recognize that man

3. She doesnât prefer to stay at home.

Wh- question form :

Wh- + ( do / does ) + S. + inf. + ...?

1. Where do you live?

2. When does she go to work everyday?

3. Why do I like that nonsense?

Yes/No question form :

(Do / Does ) + S. + inf. + â¦ ?

Do they need a help?

Does he mean that book?

Short Answer form :

Yes, + S. + ( do / does ).

No, + S. + ( donât / doesnât )

Yes, he does. / yes, they do. / Yes, I do.

no, I donât. / No, he doesnât / No, they donât.

***

Regards,

Wednesday, October 24, 2007