In Present tenses^x, Clauses^x, Negatives^x

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. *********** Hi Here is a summary about the...

Clive wrote: Hi, I'd like to offer a briefer explanation. When you say 'God forbid', you mean 'I hope that God will forbid (i.e. prevent) an event from happening in the future'. e.g. The doctor says Tom may die next week, God forbid. That's why you can't say it about an event that already...

:"God forbid" is an idiomatic saying. It's almost always followed by a clause with a present tense verb, sometimes preceeded by "that", and often (but not always!) in a sarcastic manner.God forbid (that) he dies such a fearful death.God forbid (that) he gets lost in the woods at night.God forbid...

Kili, Yes, indeed. It's nearly exactly the same question, and Clive's answer there is a good one. (That means I agree with it. ) I do think that a non-sequitur is involved, and I do see the "but" as anomalous. Part of the discomfort with the "could" version (as opposed to the...

Welcome to English Forums! What a long post! You might consider breaking it up into smaller posts so as not to scare off the reponders! In general, native speakers don't focus much, if at all, on the question of real or unreal conditions, pasts, futures, and the like. More simply, each...