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

Re: subjunctive or simple present in spoken english

AlpheccaStars — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 23:31:48 GMT

Well, Velimir, some (native) speakers are very sloppy (or forgot their grammar lessons) and use the present tense instead of the correct subjunctive mood..

In formal writing, the authors are usually more careful to use the subjunctive.

I have the feeling that subjenctive mood may eventually go out of the language. That's because English has been continuously losing inflections over its history...

Simple Present Tense and Past Tense

guzhao67 — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 02:46:18 GMT

hi: I have a question about English tense. could you explain the use of tense in the following paragraph? (bold italic added)
"In the 16th c. there are some traces of a perception that the word might have an extended application to other languages. But it was not before the 17 th c. that it became so completely a generic term that there was any need to speak explicitly of 'Latin grammar'."
My question is: why does the first sentence use "are" while the others use Simple Past Tense when they both refer to past event? thank you!

Re: grammar check!

AlpheccaStars — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 17:03:57 GMT

Ellisa:

This is a very long passage, and your other post seems to be even longer.

The editor at this web site makes it difficult to make corrections to long passages. Also, many teachers do not want to devote a long time working on a single post. If you post only one paragraph at a time, then different teachers can work on them and you will get your corrections faster.

Ellisa

Hello teachers!
I'm summarising a book which is about teaching methods.
I guess there are millions of errors.
Please ~~check those to right one~~ suggest corrections to my sentences.!
Thanks in advance!

13. Teaching grammar

There are two main ways to teach~~ing~~ grammar.(or you can say "ways of teaching grammar". The word "teaching" is a gerund, and must be used as a noun. In this example, it is object of the preposition "of")
One way is ~~both~~ planning grammar teaching in advance and relying on the coursebooks which can help us teach grammar. The other way is teaching grammar as a result of other work. In other words, it is ~~has~~ done as a peripheral activity. In this chapter, we will look at the various different ways to teach grammar. We will look at the range of activities which satisfy not merely efficiency but also ~~appropriacy~~ (not a word; you can use the adjective forms - a range of activities which are efficient as well as appropriate). . Lastly, we will discuss grammar books and their usages.

(You need to be consistent in using imperative versus declarative sentences)

A. Introducing grammar

The following ~~1 to 4~~ examples (, numbered 1 to 4,) are activities which represent a range of possibilities for introducing new grammar.

Ex1) It's making sentences using the present simple in the third singular. First, the teacher holds up a number of flashcards which are about a specific job. Then (? subject - the students )make sentences in ~~contained~~ present simple tense for ~~the~~ each pictures. It consists (or The exercise consists of) of three affirmative and three negative sentences. Then (? subject - the teacher )makes the students guess what kind of job it is. Once students are confident in ~~with~~ these sentences, the teacher asks them to think of one profession and make 6 sentences. Now, they can do activities guessing what profession is being described.

Ex2) It's using texts which contained (present tense) what the students are being taught (past simple irregular verbs). While the students read the text, they come across blanks that they must fill in with the past tense form of certain verbs. Then, (? subject - the teacher )makes them write these past tense verb forms down in the blanks and also write them phonetically using ~~which are shown~~ ~~their~~ phonemic symbols.

Ex3) This is aimed to show the differences between ~~reporting~~ direct speech and reporting things that were said in the past. The teacher draws ~~Draw~~ two people on the board. One, whose name is Jack, is holding a phone and smiling ~~whose name is Jack~~. The other is just standing. The teacher gives the ~~Give~~ students the information that Jack is talking to a girl who he met in the school canteen. Then, the teacher asks the students what Jack tells his friend while taking on the phone. The answers might be in the present form such as ' She says I'm really nice'. In this process, the teacher makes sure that the students understand how 'you' changes to 'I'. The teacher now tells the students that Jack is back home and he was spurned by the girl. He is telling to his mother that 'She said I was really nice' which is past form. The teacher can write both past and present forms on the board to help students.

Ex4) Here, the language which the students are ~~were~~ going to study is ~~was~~ embedded in the texts which they read. The teacher makes the students read the story first. After confirming that they ~~are~~ fully understanood the story by asking comprehension questions, the teacher asks them to make bad or insensible statements using the story. Then, the ~~get~~ students to come up to the board and write the sentences. ~~so that T~~he sentences have to use the modal auxillary "should," such as ~~ncluding~~ 'Should have p.p.' or' Shouldn't have p.p'.(especially here.)

A myriad of grammar problems :(

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 11:10:23 GMT

A Myriad of Grammar Problems... :(

I have absolutely no idea how to do these, can someone tell me what's going on here, Ive looked up many pages on the web but still am stumped on these:

Exercise 9
Rewrite the following in the PASSIVE voice.

E.g. 1. My wife wrote the letter. --> The letter was written by my wife.

2. My father painted the house. --> The house was painted by my father.

3. The storm will destroy the harvest. --> The harvest will be destroyed by the storm.

4. He has knocked the fence over. --> The fence was knocked over by him.

5. The man in the black hat found the child. --> The child was found by the man in the black hat.

Exercise 10
Rewrite the following in the ACTIVE voice.

E.g. 1. This task can be done by small children. --> Small children can do this task.

2. The supermarket will be opened by the mayor. --> The mayor will open the supermarket.

3. The charge was made by the police. --> The police made the charge.

4. The drawings were done by a famous artist. --> A famous artist did the drawings.

5. The company has been taken over by the Government. --> The government was taken over the company.

Are these right, I have to get them 100% word correct...but I'm really not sure if their right.

For example, we can use the present continuous (also used to refer to the future when we make arrangements) to talk about what is happening now. The simple present is commonly used to refer to routines or habits and it can also be used to refer past and future events.

Exercise 1
Look at this example taken from a newspaper: 'Prime Minister unveils new policies'. Although it is written in the present tense, it refers to past time.

Look at the following sentences using present simple tense verbs and decide what time reference they have - PRESENT, PAST, or FUTURE.

E.g. 1. When you see her, will you say hello from me.	Future
2. Cantona passes to Giggs, who passes to Sharp.
3. She walks in, comes right up to me and says...
4. The train leaves at 10.30.
5. We'll phone as soon as we get there.

Number 2,3 I said was Present, and Number,4,5 I said was Future.
Exercise 2
Look through the following sentences and select the TENSE and the time reference used.

E.g. 1. If I won a lot of money, I'd travel the world.	Past Simple	Future
2. I wish I had more time to finish this exercise.
3. When you have finished, you can go home.
4. 'Major calls for peace summit' (headline).
5. I'm meeting some friends at the pub tonight.
6. We've got the next lesson in the language library.
7. I am to give a speech at the conference next week.

I have NO IDEA how to do the above 2 exercises, I can't even attempt them very well...can anyone relieve me of the stress I'm having with these?

Re: When to use does and did ?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 06:18:38 GMT

Yes absolutely right.Both Do/Does comes in Present Tense and Did in Past Tense.But the Example quoted is not as per the grammar.

Do comes I,You, We and They.
Does comes with He,She and it.
Did in past tense.

Coming to the business:
Ex1: I didn't Knew it.
In the above example yout intention was to say,you do not know anything.'Knew' means you already know about it.Which is contradicting in the above Ex1.
So it should be
Correction: I didn't know it.

Ex2:I dosen't know it.
As I mentioned above,for I,do should come.
So it should be
Correction: I don't know it.

Re: backshifting in indirect speech and verbs of communication

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 05:40:10 GMT

Hi,

You wrote:

I learn from a grammar book that a small set of verbs of communication such as "tell", "say" and "hear" can be used in simple present tense even though the act of telling, saying or hearing happened in the past. for example, "Bill tells me you are moving to Sydney". according to the book, Bill's telling me was in fact in past time, but we're more concerned with the content of Bill's telling rather than Bill's act of communication. and thus the simple present form "tells" is not ungrammatical here.

I think the book is correct in that most people (or some people) I know from America talk like that: Part of the sentence might be in past time but it is not to be ungrammatical since I think the present focus of the conversation is in the past, present or in the future and that seems to be more important than the other.

eg,

Q Hi, John, I hear you got a raise. -- the hearing occurred in the past and the raise probably, if it is true, happened in the past but only one verb is in the past but I think it is grammatical.

A: Yes, how did you know? I got a raise last month.

As to your reported speech question, I think if something is to be fulfilled or realized in the future, then the tense remains in the future.

What John said yesterday: I will get a raise soon.

Reported speech: John said he will get a raise soon.

Please wait for other responses.

backshifting in indirect speech and verbs of communication

guzhao67 — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 05:14:18 GMT

Hi there: I learn from a grammar book that a small set of verbs of communication such as "tell", "say" and "hear" can be used in simple present tense even though the act of telling, saying or hearing happened in the past. for example, "Bill tells me you are moving to Sydney". according to the book, Bill's telling me was in fact in past time, but we're more concerned with the content of Bill's telling rather than Bill's act of communication. and thus the simple present form "tells" is not ungrammatical here. But in the subsequent part of the book, when dealing with backshifting in indirect reported speech, i found two examples which seem to contradict to the above cited example.(I must be wrong when I'm saying "contradict") The examples are: if Bill's original statement is "the match starts on 2 June", then 2 ways of indirect report are possible, according to the context. the first is "Bill said the march started on 2 June", and the second is "Bill said the march starts on 2 June" (if the report is before 2 June). My question is: why don't we use "Bill says...." here? since, according to the book, "say" is a verb of communication and the focus of the report seems to be the content of the Bill's statement, too. I'm really confused. Or maybe there are some other considerations which I've ignored. could you please help me. Thank you.

Re: When -s forms should be used ?

Clive — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 13:10:09 GMT

Hi again,

To sum up, you need to study and understand the Simple Present tense, focusing on the first/second/third person aspects. If your grammar book does not discuss this, then find another grammar book that does.

Good luck, Clive

They often start out happily..

PrinnySquad — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 04:35:38 GMT

Hello Everybody,
I was translating this sentence in my language and came across a grammar point that I wasn't sure about. So basically, I am talking about 2 people : A and B. A and B have different preferences for clothes.
And the sentence was:
"They are usually happy when at the moment they start to go shopping together, but often come back unhappy." This is because they have different preferences and often argue with each other.

Did I use the correct tense for the first clause? I am talking about a present situation, like habits or things of the sort, so I put the first clause in present tense. What do you think?

And what about the tense of the second clause "come back unhappy"?

Thanks,
PrinnySquad.

Re: I rewrote my essay please help me to correct grammar mistakes!

Clive — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 13:47:25 GMT

Aristotle's Ethics

Hi,
Essays should not include a table of contents.

I started off 'bolding' my edits, but then stopped doing that, so just read carefully please.

I've just looked at the introduction, whch took me a while.

Content

1. The significance of ethics for Aristotle.

2. The student against teacher.

3. Conclusion

~~Among~~ the merits of Aristotle's work include the definition and classification of sciences, and the various kinds of knowledge. He divided ~~the~~ science of into three broad categories: theoretical (speculation), practical (performance) and creative (creativity). The first category included philosophy, mathematics and physics, ~~but~~ the second ethics and politics, and the third -arts, crafts and the application of science. Ancient science was not focused on harnessing the forces of nature, that is, using knowledge for practical purposes, but on the general knowledge of the world order of things in order to develop an understanding of public relations at the education of citizens and regulate their relationships and behavior to achieve an ethical ideal. <<<< This sentence is long and confusing. can you makje it into shorter ones? The second category explores <<< You need to decide if you want to use past tense or present tense throughout the essay ~~the~~ ethical and political problems, and only the third category deals with arts, crafts and applied sciences. The word "practice" is used with Aristotle in a broad sense, not narrowly - as an activity for material gain.

You seem to have described these 3 categories twice.

Do you feel that this paragraph is sufficiently 'introductory'?

I read this paragraph and still don't really know what you think the significance of his Ethics was/is. eg Did he do something that no-one had done before? Did he profoundly affect the thinkers who came after him?

You have managed to write the paragraph without once mentioning the word 'ethics'. Don't you think you should?

Clive