Search results for 'tag:Present tenses tag:American English' matching tags 'Present tenses' and 'American English'

Re: past tense and politeness and tentativeness

AlpheccaStars — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 23:56:41 GMT

"I wondered whether you could help me?",

Simple past, completed action. This is not present tense, but I suppose the "past time" could be one second ago. I don't use this.

"I had wondered whether you could help me?"

Past perfect tense. The action (wonder) completed at some time in the past. I don't use this.

"I was wondering whether you could help me?"

I use this to ask someone very politely for help right now. The progressive tense means that the action (wonder) started a short time ago, and continues up to this point in time. I also use "if" more frequently than "whether". (American English)

I also ask,: "Can you please help me?"

Re: correct sentences 24/11

Teo — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 06:09:54 GMT

They won't smoke ever since they saw a film on lung cancer.

What does "won't" mean here?

Re: correct sentences 24/11

Teo — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 06:09:49 GMT

http://forums.eslcafe.com/student/viewtopic.php?t=22113&highlight=

Re: Which sentences are correct?

Grammar Geek — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 16:42:23 GMT

That's interesting. I find "It's time [present tense]" just fine too. I never knew it was another American English oddity.

On another note, I also think you can delete the "for" in the first pair: How long are you staying?

Re: wish clauses

Goodman — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 17:52:34 GMT

Yoong Liat wrote:
Hi Goodman

You wrote: I have been labeled and called by many descriptions, hinted being âIgnorantâ is the first ...

I'm not hinting that you're ignorant. I say that if a learner tells me "informal" means "wrong", I'll understand that he says so because he is ignorant. But you are not a learner. You're one of the members who have a good command of English. So that's why I say it's not correct for you to say that a usage, which is classified as "informal", is wrong.

I've reproduced below what Michael Swan has to say about "I wish I was ... " and "I wish it wasn't ..." and let the members decide whether you're right to say "I wish it was not raining" or "I wish it wasn't raining" is a wrong usage.

We can use 'wish' to express regrets - to say that we would like things to be different. We use a past tense with a present meaning in this case.
I wish I was better-looking.
I wish it wasn't raining.

In a formal style, we can use 'were' instead of 'was' after 'I wish'.
I wish I were better-looking.

(Basic English Usage by Michael Swan)

Best wishes.

Liat,

With our differences in point of view, I appreciate your reply. For all intents and an purposes, I am still a learner on a different level but I perhaps have the advantage being in a completely English environment and therefore, I may appear to have better command. That said, I do feel there is a certain slight inconsistency among all the different English websites, particularly on the subjunctive. There should not be any argument that âIf I wereâ or âI wish I wereâ is a subjunctive mood. The difference of the agruement really lies in the defining of the rules and the mood expressed in the senstence. The early website quoted âI wish I wasâ as informal.

In reality, after reading this article, that is indeed incorrect. The bottom line, " I wish I was" is against the subjunctive ruels. Take a look at the explanation on this website then you may come to agree with what I said in my earlier threads.

Confusingly enough, in the "self test", some of of the answers are considered "acceptable" or "informal" by some. I should hope that this piece will settle all questions about indicative and subjunctive moods.

Subjunctive Mood

However, if a form of the verb to be were used in that sentence, all polished writers would agree that the subjunctive is necessary: "If he were [not was] ...
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GIW Home		writeDate(); Mon Oct. 8, 2007 \| Tell a Friend \| Subscribe \| Order Our Book
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	Writing Tip: July 30, 2001 The Subjunctive Mood Examine the verbs in each of the following sentences: 1. If Harrison were chosen to be the next chief executive officer of the corporation, several controversial hiring practices would change. 2. If I were you, I would increase my weekly contribution to the company-sponsored retirement fund. 3. I wish that his report were longer. 4. We recommend that the trip be postponed because of violence in the region. 5. The finance department requests that he submit updated budget projections each month. All the above sentences are correct. Two terms apply to the mood of English verbs: indicative and subjunctive. An indicative verb makes a statement that is factual, whereas a verb in the subjunctive mood is used to indicate a situation or condition that is hypothetical, doubtful, or conditional. In the indicative mood, we would never write "Harrison were," "I were," "report were," "trip be," or "he submit," but these verbs are correct in the examples above because each of the sentences is written in the subjunctive mood; that is, in every case, the sentence is describing a situation that is hypothetical or conditional: 1. Harrison is not now the C.E.O., but hypothetically he could be chosen for that position. The conditional nature of the position is suggested by the word if. 2. Again, as the word if makes clear, I am not, in fact, you. So once again the situation is hypothetical and conditional: I would save more only under the condition that I became you. 3. His report is not, in fact, longer, so the sentence speaks of a hypothetical situation. 4. The trip is not currently postponed, so the subjunctive mood is appropriate to suggest a possibility, not an actuality. 5. He is not currently submitting reports monthly, so we use the subjunctive mood to discuss the possibility--not the actuality--of his doing so. For all verbs except to be, the present subjunctive mood is most often made by omitting the characteristic s ending on verbs with third-person singular subjects. Thus, whereas in the indicative mood we would write "man leaves," in the subjunctive mood we would omit the s on the verb leave: "The judge insisted that the man not leave town." For the verb to be, we simply use be for all present tense subjunctive mood verbs and were for all past tense forms, regardless of whether the subject is singular or plural. The Columbia Guide to Standard American English (New York: MJF Books, 1993) points out that while many subjunctive-mood phrases are commonly used in ordinary speech--"if I were you," "if need be," "far be it from me," and so on--strict use of the subjunctive mood is rare, even in the most formal speaking and writing situations (243). Very few people would write, for example, "If he arrive on time, we will have dinner before the show." However, if a form of the verb to be were used in that sentence, all polished writers would agree that the subjunctive is necessary: "If he were [not was] to arrive on time, we could have dinner before the show." The Harbrace College Handbook (13th edition) lists other common, fixed expressions that are stated in the subjunctive mood: "so be it," "be that as it may," "as it were," and "God bless you" (99-100). TEST YOURSELF Which of the following sentences need verbs in the subjunctive mood? 1. If I was Sam, I would hire an assistant now before the hiring freeze takes effect. 2. The committee suggested that Dr. Jones is chosen as the next chief of staff. 3. As August approaches, every school child wishes that his or her vacation was longer. 4. It is critical that every potential donor gives blood during this shortage. ANSWERS 1. If I WERE Sam, I would hire an assistant now before the hiring freeze takes effect. 2. The committee suggested that Dr. Jones BE chosen as the next chief of staff. 3. As August approaches, every school child wishes that his or her vacation WERE longer. This is almost the exact sentence identified as correct in your past post. 4. It is critical that every potential donor GIVE blood during this shortage. Copyright 2001 Get It Write More Tips \| Tell a Friend *Special Request:* Please share these tips with friends and colleagues and encourage them to subscribe. (If you post the tips to an internal distribution list of any size, please tell us the nature of the list and the number of subscribers. We would like to know how many people we are reaching with this service. We appreciate your positive feedback and excellent comments!)

Re: Temporal Directives using before/until, please help clarify tense usage

Clive — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 05:57:53 GMT

Hi,

Welcome to the Forum.

Which one of the following is correct? If all are correct, what situations would warrant one and not the others? Thank you/

- Please do not sit on the couch until you have gotten permission.

- Please do not sit on the couch before you have gotten permission.

- Please do not sit on the couch until you get permission.

- Please do not sit on the couch before you get permission.

The differences amongst the sentences above are two-fold: 1) until vs. before 2) present tense vs. present perfect after the temporal adverb.

Theyare all correct. Often, these expressions could be interchanged. Any differences here are fairly subtle. Here are a few comments.

First, I would say 'got' rather than 'gotten'. Both forms are OK. I believe 'gotten' is more a feature of American English.

'Until' suggests to me that the speaker expects permission to be given. I don't feel this so much with 'before'. 'Until' also seems to place more stress on the length of the period prior to your getting permisiion.

The present tense suggests to me more immediacy. ie the expected sequence of events is that you get permission and then you immediately/quickly sit down.

The present perfect suggests to me less immediacy. ie First, you get permission. After that, you are in a state of 'having got permission'. Now, anytime you want to, you can sit down.

But, as i said, often these variations are just interchanged.

Best wishes, Clive

Re: Haven't / Didn't

Grammar Geek — Thu, 17 May 2007 17:42:21 GMT

Bokeh wrote:
Grammar Geek wrote:

Are you saying that the simple past is not used for recent events in BrE?

What about:
I think I saw a ghost!

GG, that example has different context. You are specifically stating that the sighting is over; if it were not you would use the present tense: I think I [can] see a ghost! In the case of the broken leg though, for example, "I think I have broke my leg" means something happened to make the speaker believe that the bone had broken [pain/impact/etc] and that it is was still broken at the time of the comment. If I heard someone say "I think I broke my leg" I would believe they were talking about a non current event that they could barely remember (maybe a recollection from childhood where the individual remembered the injury was extremely painful but was not sure of the specific diagnosis).

Thanks for that. (Now, oddly, I would say to someone, "You look like you've just seen a ghost" not "You look like you just saw a ghost." I guess because the scared look remains to the present and it's the "looking like" that merits the present perfect, regardless of when the "seeing" took place.)

Okay, so in American English, "Oh my gosh! I think I just broke my leg!" is perfectly fine. (Perhaps the "Oh my gosh" part is a bit understated, but tense-wise it's fine.) Now, correctness aside, I thought I read previously that simply past is becoming more common to hear in BrE, so would I be likely to actually hear constructions such as "I think I broke my leg"?

Re: Is this "would" equal to "should"?

CalifJim — Sat, 12 May 2007 06:55:12 GMT

Welcome to English Forums!

You could also use the word "much". (If you used the word "much",) I wouldn't notice a difference in meaning.

The use of "would" almost invariably suggests a condition, whether the condition is stated explicitly or not.

The clause with "would" is the statement of the result. The clause introduced by "if" and containing a past tense is the statement of the condition. As seen above, the statement of the condition is not required. It can often be deduced from context, as I have done above (in parentheses). This particular grammatical formula, which relates a condition to a result of that condition, suggests -- as you may already have guessed -- not that the resulting situation actually exists in the real world, but that the resulting situation exists in a sort of alternate world in which the condition situation actually exists.
An extremely similar statement can be constructed with an "if" clause with the present tense and a "will" clause. If you use the word "much", I won't (will not) notice a difference in meaning. This differs from the equivalent with "would" only in the degree of definiteness. In the version with "will" we have the feeling that the condition may very well come about, and we will definitely proceed as the result clause predicts. In the version with "would" we are reasoning more abstractly. Whether or not the condition ever occurs in the real world is not so much of a concern; we are more interested in the abstract relationship between the condition and the result.

In short, you are very nearly correct in your characterization of "would" as a reserved form of "will". I prefer to say that in the case of "if" statements, "would" is a more abstract and less real form of "will".

I don't think we need to call "would" a subjunctive of any kind. That is not a good analysis in my opinion.
__________

In my opinion the replacement of "wouldn't" by "shouldn't" causes the statement to seem old-fashioned. Even though it is possible, this replacement is not used in modern English, certainly not in modern American English.

CJ

Re: Gotten or Got

Yankee — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 02:08:43 GMT

Hi Hiro
.
Using your definitions again:

1.
I have acquired / obtained (present perfect) =
In American English: "I have gotten" (I've gotten)
In British English: "I have got" (I've got)

2.
I have / I possess (simple present tense) =
In American and British English: "I have got" (I've got)

"I have gotten" is always the present perfect tense.
"I have gotten" is not used to mean "I have" (I possess).

Re: Gotta

CalifJim — Wed, 29 Sep 2004 05:53:42 GMT

The idiom is "have got" in both American and British English. It is a purely idiomatic alternate for "have" and is not much used except in the present tense. That is, "have got" is the present tense of this idiom, even though "get" is the present tense form of "to get", and the past is "got". This is because "have got" is Present Perfect in form, though not in meaning. To be more specific, "have got" is the British Present Perfect, the American Present Perfect being "have gotten". So in American English we have "My brother has gotten up early this morning", whereas in British English we have "My brother has got up early this morning." Nevertheless, the idiom is "have got" in both AmEng and BrEng, not "have gotten", not even in American English.

I have got a pen. = I have a pen.
I have not got any money. = I do not have any money.

Using contractions:

I've got a pen. = I have a pen.
I haven't got any money. = I don't have any money.

The use of "have got" for "have" extends to the affirmative form of the semi-modal "have to", so that "have got to" is an idiomatic substitute for "have to" (meaning "must"). The negative form is rare.

I have got to meet my friend at 10 o'clock. =
I've got to meet my friend at 10 o'clock. = I have to meet my friend at 10 o'clock.

The full conjugation with contractions is:

I've got to ...; you've got to ...; he's (he has) got to ...; she's (she has) got to ... ; we've got to ... ; you've got to ...; they've got to ...;

In fast or less careful speech the contracted "have" ('ve) is glossed over and can barely be heard -- or may not be heard at all. Simultaneously, the "got to" collapses into "gotta". (In American English this is pronounced "godda".) The "z" sound in "he's got" and "she's got" (which stands for "has") remains, however. This leads to the following "conjugation" (using "go" as the complement verb):

I gotta go, you gotta go, he's gotta go, she's gotta go,
we gotta go, you gotta go, they gotta go

This is used in conversation only; it should never be used in formal writing under any circumstances!



GIW Home		writeDate(); Mon Oct. 8, 2007 \| Tell a Friend \| Subscribe \| Order Our Book
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	Writing Tip: July 30, 2001 The Subjunctive Mood Examine the verbs in each of the following sentences: 1. If Harrison were chosen to be the next chief executive officer of the corporation, several controversial hiring practices would change. 2. If I were you, I would increase my weekly contribution to the company-sponsored retirement fund. 3. I wish that his report were longer. 4. We recommend that the trip be postponed because of violence in the region. 5. The finance department requests that he submit updated budget projections each month. All the above sentences are correct. Two terms apply to the mood of English verbs: indicative and subjunctive. An indicative verb makes a statement that is factual, whereas a verb in the subjunctive mood is used to indicate a situation or condition that is hypothetical, doubtful, or conditional. In the indicative mood, we would never write "Harrison were," "I were," "report were," "trip be," or "he submit," but these verbs are correct in the examples above because each of the sentences is written in the subjunctive mood; that is, in every case, the sentence is describing a situation that is hypothetical or conditional: 1. Harrison is not now the C.E.O., but hypothetically he could be chosen for that position. The conditional nature of the position is suggested by the word if. 2. Again, as the word if makes clear, I am not, in fact, you. So once again the situation is hypothetical and conditional: I would save more only under the condition that I became you. 3. His report is not, in fact, longer, so the sentence speaks of a hypothetical situation. 4. The trip is not currently postponed, so the subjunctive mood is appropriate to suggest a possibility, not an actuality. 5. He is not currently submitting reports monthly, so we use the subjunctive mood to discuss the possibility--not the actuality--of his doing so. For all verbs except to be, the present subjunctive mood is most often made by omitting the characteristic s ending on verbs with third-person singular subjects. Thus, whereas in the indicative mood we would write "man leaves," in the subjunctive mood we would omit the s on the verb leave: "The judge insisted that the man not leave town." For the verb to be, we simply use be for all present tense subjunctive mood verbs and were for all past tense forms, regardless of whether the subject is singular or plural. The Columbia Guide to Standard American English (New York: MJF Books, 1993) points out that while many subjunctive-mood phrases are commonly used in ordinary speech--"if I were you," "if need be," "far be it from me," and so on--strict use of the subjunctive mood is rare, even in the most formal speaking and writing situations (243). Very few people would write, for example, "If he arrive on time, we will have dinner before the show." However, if a form of the verb to be were used in that sentence, all polished writers would agree that the subjunctive is necessary: "If he were [not was] to arrive on time, we could have dinner before the show." The Harbrace College Handbook (13th edition) lists other common, fixed expressions that are stated in the subjunctive mood: "so be it," "be that as it may," "as it were," and "God bless you" (99-100). TEST YOURSELF Which of the following sentences need verbs in the subjunctive mood? 1. If I was Sam, I would hire an assistant now before the hiring freeze takes effect. 2. The committee suggested that Dr. Jones is chosen as the next chief of staff. 3. As August approaches, every school child wishes that his or her vacation was longer. 4. It is critical that every potential donor gives blood during this shortage. ANSWERS 1. If I WERE Sam, I would hire an assistant now before the hiring freeze takes effect. 2. The committee suggested that Dr. Jones BE chosen as the next chief of staff. 3. As August approaches, every school child wishes that his or her vacation WERE longer. This is almost the exact sentence identified as correct in your past post. 4. It is critical that every potential donor GIVE blood during this shortage. Copyright 2001 Get It Write More Tips \| Tell a Friend *Special Request:* Please share these tips with friends and colleagues and encourage them to subscribe. (If you post the tips to an internal distribution list of any size, please tell us the nature of the list and the number of subscribers. We would like to know how many people we are reaching with this service. We appreciate your positive feedback and excellent comments!)