By Present tenses, Clauses

Hi all''You have got to buy that book. It's a real page-turner.''He said (that) I had to buy that book and that it is a real page-turner.Does this report structure sound natural to you? I have used the present tense for the second verb in the reported clause to put emphasis on...

Hi,I would use the present tense in the if-clause and write the question like this.A: I think my son is still alive.reporter: If your son is alive, why do you think he's not coming back?Or you could make it unreal like this.If your son were alive, what would be the reason he hasn't come...

Hi,What is the difference? I hope you've seen it, but if you hadn't (haven't), I'd love to run it for you now.I think the 'hadn't' version is a type 2 conditional (unreal). To me, using a present tense in the if-clause is new. How does it work?Is this good?If you have...

Doesn't it bother you that a present perfect tense in an if clause is used with would?Isn't the past usually used with would in that case?It is unusual. The reason it's OK is that would like to (or would love to) is an idiom equivalent to want to (a present tense). So it's likeI...

Hi, I am having trouble getting a firm grasp of the working of putting present-time clauses in a story or narratve that flows in past tenses -- which meant to tell something that has occurred in the past. I know if something still holds true or if something is a "universal" truth...

In the first sentence the use of a present tense (think) emphasises what your opinion is now. The past tense (thought) refers to the past; your opinion may have changed by now."I told her that I am (was?) happy in my job" Both are right. The sequence of tenses would require was but if...

Thank you very much, Jim. May I ask one more question? As for the first pair of sentences, which is better? I ask this because I saw my grammar book saying "If the main clause and relative clause mean the same future time, we use future tense in the main clause, and present tense the...

Only one s in present!!! You can't use will with the stative verbs in this construction: } _______Your example with make sure does not belong to the pattern above. There's no indirect question.Make sure (that) you come back soon.A make sure that pattern is not followed by a future...

Hello, everyone. I learned from my grammar book that we often use present tense to refer to future in "in case-clause". Like: I always take an umbrella in case it rains. I've bought a chicken in case your mother stays to lunch. In those cases, I found that all the verbs in main...

This often happens with the verb help. In my opinion, it's an abbreviated form of If you think that it will help, which is an if-clause in the present tense. (think is in the present tense.) The it will help part is therefore actually an implied subordinate clause. The same doesn't...