By Regards, Past tenses

Re: taking out the windows of the car

Hi Ant222, My English skill is not in the “grammarian” class but I will give it my best attempt to explain it. It may not may not be agreeable with the experts. In many instances during casual conversations, we can bet by with simple past tense and no one will flag you for errors. However, to...

Re: I thought a spider is/was an insect

My apologies for introducing a joke! The "universal falsehood" reference is a complete joke! It doesn't matter whether what is reported is universally true or unversally false. What's important is that in the speaker's mind it is universally (or eternally, if you wish)...

Future tense + past tense in one paragraph

Hi,I just wrote an email and used the following opening:--Hi Michael,I will explain, what changes must be done to the source code,and the extent of the changes. I wrote it as easily as I can,therefore not wasting your time....(complex technical stuff follows)--It is not correct to use simple...

Re: Condtitional tense

is totally dependent on context, rather than the tense of any verbs in the if clause? And would that make a difference between your example and mine? Best regards, - A. Edit, note - Amy offered an analysis of "If I am" as being equal to "Whenever I am" in a different...

Re: I need HELP!!! Problems with changes between past and continuous tense

Hi DavidUnfortunately the quote option doesn't work properly if I add my comments and change the colour of my text, so I'll post my comments without quoting anything. I don't quite understand what you mean with regard to your first sentence, or sentences, actually. "The old man...

Suggestions for Improving Grammar on Site

Hello: I am new to the site (was led here by a search engine) and am surprised to see a number of grammatical errors in and around the site in general. I haven't looked everywhere, but below you will find a list of the ones that I noticed right off the bat: The site mistakenly uses, in many...

Re: Thesis writing

Hi,In a thesis / dissertation / science report, all three tenses (past, present, future) are used. - Past tense must be used to introduce the results of one's research since it was done. - Present tense is used to layout the process of defending one's conclusion. - Future tense might be used at...

Re: past tense.

Noori wrote:ahem! I really didn't get your point, in fact the explanation of the first sentence, to me it is grammatically wrong. My friend said she doesn't know any foreign languages. (This emphasises that he doesn't know any foreign languages.) Let's see if another member shares your view...

past or present tense in quoting?

Hello,Thanks in advance!What is the convention in using the present or past tense to quote a source? If the present tense must be used, then please explain the reason behind such a recommendation. By the way, I was told to use the present tense a long way back and did not have a sense to ask...

Re: inclusion vs. separation (present perfect and simple past)

Hoa Thai wrote: Dear all, First, I would like to thank you in advance for reading this rather lengthy post of mine. I do need to lay out my thinking and reasoning as wide as I can so you can best help me to untangle my own confusion...