Search results for 'tag:Present tenses tag:Simple present' matching tags 'Present tenses' and 'Simple present'

Re: âThere is always a toastâ or âthere was always a toastâ?

Clive — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 14:11:51 GMT

Hi,

There is a passage in my English textbook. In this passage there are two sentences with the simple present tense, in which I think the simple past tense should be used, and they are the following:

1. âthere is always a toastâ

2. âMany parties, social and political discussions and family gatherings take place hereâ

In order to show the context of the two sentences, the whole passage has been copied below with the two sentences in question italicized (the two sentences are also in bold type together with the title of the passage)

A Russian Experience

It was almost midnight, yet the streets were bathed in a soft, shimmering light. The sun had just gone down and twilight would soon give way to night. We were strolling along the Nevsky Prospekt, a wide avenue stretching four kilometres and filled with people, music and street entertainers. This was St Petersburg in August and it seemed the city was out to celebrate the long summer nights. We had just left the home of newly found Russian friends and after a wonderful traditional dinner decided to have some exercise before going to bed.

ãIt has always been my dream to visit St Petersburg. Absorbed by Russian history since childhood, I wanted to see it all for myself. Now, thanks to Perestroika, tourists are welcomed into Russia and St Petersburg with its rich, cultural history is a popular choice.

ãWe flew in from Stockholm and from the air immediately noticed a well-planned city with apartment blocks built in semi-circles with central courtyards and gardens. Not only did this seem practical, but the idea behind the design was to shelter residents from the fierce winter winds. The city was built by European architects in the 18th and 19th centuries and remains one of Europe's most beautiful cities. Straddling the wide River Neva, the city is made up of almost 50 islands connected by some 310 bridges. No wonder the sight of elegant buildings along the canals reminded me of Paris, Amsterdam and Venice.

ãI hadn't met many Russian people but I had an intense love for their country and traditions and was passionate about art and literature. Russian writers such as Pushkin, Tolstoy, and Dostoevsky reach the very soul of ordinary Russians, and this I find intriguing. It was no different when I finally found myself in Russia. People were openly friendly and eager to discuss any aspect of their lives in their beloved Motherland. No matter how bad the economy, somehow these people have the ability to see the positive aspects of their lives, whatever their circumstances. We met an attractive woman from Moscow, and we fast became friends and it was she who invited us into the home of some dear friends of hers.

ãThe apartment block was in an elegant area of St Petersburg and was probably a palace in the past but now converted into apartments of four floors. The entrance through a narrow hallway was dark and dull and there was an old fashioned lift on the ground floor with steel folding gates that clanged shut, after which the lift moved very slowly upwards. It was quicker to walk up the staircase.

ãOur host, Yuri Petrochenkov, himself an artist, warmly greeted us at the door. He was tall with gray hair pulled into a tail. His open, friendly manner and twinkling eyes showed a sense of humor and his English with a thick accent made him an entertaining host. Nelly, his wife, spoke little English but understood a great deal more.
ãWe were ushered into their main room, which served as a living-room, dining room and TV area. There was an air of intimacy in the room, as though it was the core part of this family. Many parties, social and political discussions and family gatherings take place here.They did, and they still do. The present tense suggests that this visit was not long ago, and that the same custom of toasts exists 'today', ie at the time of writing. We were honored to be there and I felt ashamed that I had absolutely no Russian language to attempt to communicate in. Why is it that people of the English-speaking world take for granted that the rest of the world should speak English? I had always meant to learn Russian and had enrolled for courses in the past but they never started because of lack of numbers.

ãOur meal was a feast in itself. We weren't offered wine, just vodka in little shot glasses and before drinking there is always a toast. Here, it seems to be a similar idea to the above, but I'd prefer the simple past here myself. Another interpretation is that the writer is trying to make the reader feel that he is present at the meal, but in that case I'd use present tense for the whole sentence, and maybe even the whole paragraph or the whole narrative. Some nine vodkas later, Yuri was in fine form and had found a drinking partner in my husband!

ãWandering along the river, we agreed that not only had we found new friends, but we had just spent probably the most enjoyable experience of our trip to Russia. This is what travel is all about - to get to the heart and soul of the people and to try to understand and experience a little of what makes others tick

Best wishes, Clive

âThere is always a toastâ or âthere was always a toastâ?

Liveinsea — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 13:58:49 GMT

There is a passage in my English textbook. In this passage there are two sentences with the simple present tense, in which I think the simple past tense should be used, and they are the following:

1. âthere is always a toastâ

2. âMany parties, social and political discussions and family gatherings take place hereâ

A Russian Experience

ãOur host, Yuri Petrochenkov, himself an artist, warmly greeted us at the door. He was tall with gray hair pulled into a tail. His open, friendly manner and twinkling eyes showed a sense of humor and his English with a thick accent made him an entertaining host. Nelly, his wife, spoke little English but understood a great deal more.
ãWe were ushered into their main room, which served as a living-room, dining room and TV area. There was an air of intimacy in the room, as though it was the core part of this family. Many parties, social and political discussions and family gatherings take place here. We were honored to be there and I felt ashamed that I had absolutely no Russian language to attempt to communicate in. Why is it that people of the English-speaking world take for granted that the rest of the world should speak English? I had always meant to learn Russian and had enrolled for courses in the past but they never started because of lack of numbers.

ãOur meal was a feast in itself. We weren't offered wine, just vodka in little shot glasses and before drinking there is always a toast. Some nine vodkas later, Yuri was in fine form and had found a drinking partner in my husband!

review

somer — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 19:49:02 GMT

3a) A cat ate the small animal.

3b) A cat is a small animal.

The syntactic analyses of the two sentences are differents. In the sentence 3a) we have (s, v, do) while, in the second sentence 3b) we have (s, v (copular), sP).

In 3a) âa cat âis noun phrase (a is determiner indefinite article, cat is head noun of noun phrase âa catâ), âateâ is verb in past simple tense,â the small animal â is noun phrase consist of determiner âtheâ, âsmallâ is adjective , âanimalâ is the head noun of the noun phrase, all the noun phrase functions as direct object.

In 3b) âa catâ is noun phrase (a is determiner indefinite article, cat is head noun of noun phrase âa catâ) function as subject, âisâ copular verb in simple present tense,â a small animalâ noun phrase consist of the indefinite determiner âaâ , the adjective small , and the head noun of the noun phrase âanimalâ, the noun phrase function as subject predicative.

Differences in the meaning: the first sentence means that there was a cat and it ate the small animal "the small animal" should be mentioned before, or known to the reader, while the second sentence means that a cat is a kind of animal and it is small. We are talking generally here.

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...

subjunctive or simple present in spoken english

Velimir — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 12:51:43 GMT

Hello again,Â

Again I have a question of course . I am interested in the difference in the usage of the mandative subjunctive and the simple present tense Â in dependent "that" clauses after the verbs of demand as "insist" , "demand" ,"suggest" and "ask" .I suppose that the two are always interchangeable in the sentences like below :

We recommend that you be present here at 10.00 pm.

is the same as:

We recommend that you are present here at Â 10.00 pm.

Am i right ? And how much is the subjunctive mood used in similar situations in spoken english actually?

Is it correct that subjunctive mood would keep the same form if I put the main verb in the past tense i.e :

We recommended that you be present here at 10.00 pm.

and is it the same as :

We recommended that you were present here at 10.00 pm.Â

Best regards and thank you for your help

Re: Simple Present Tense and Past Tense

CalifJim — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:37:18 GMT

guzhao67
there are some traces

= one can (still, now) find traces. The traces exist as part of our research.

Whenever you investigate the past, you find evidence that guides you (now) to knowledge about what the past was like (then). The evidence, in the form of clues, signals, signs, marks, traces, writings, etc., still exists as part of your present-day study.

These fragments of jewelry from the second century tell us (now) that people of that time were capable (then) of working with metals.

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: verb "to be"

Newguest — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:05:36 GMT

CalifJim
They all use the simple present tense of be.

CJ

I see. So I should say that these sentences are all in the present simple with the verb "to be". Right?

Re: simple present tense exercise

Clive — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:59:15 GMT

Hi,

Fill in the blanks with the correct form of words given:

1. I _____am reading_______ (read) a very interesting book now.

4. Who _____were_______ you _____speaking_______ (speak) to just now?

10. What ___does_________ Mary ______do______ (do) ? She's a student.

11. My whole family _____goes__________(go) to church once a week.

15. He is thirteen years old now, and his voice _______has__changed____________(change).

16. Let's change the conversation. It _______is getting __________(get) too serious.

18. My grandfather ____ grew / is going to grow __________(grow) tomatoes in his garden this summer.

Best wishes, Clive

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?