By Tenses, Analogies

Hello anon, I'm not sure why you chose to stand on your soapbox about the declining state of English on a post that was almost two years old, but you are mistaken. Regarding dive:http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dive - usage Dive, which was originally a weak verb, developed a past...

First,. let me say that I agree usage-wise Nona and you. I also think that the mother-example is a good one - but it's not a perfect one. It's a good one, because it demonstrates the difference between the time of action and the time of speaking. Noun references are routinely rooted in...

Hello, I'm sorry I have more than one question today, and I will post them all here because I'm supposed to hand this part in on Sunday. Help me explain what's in red please: A) The implications 1 for parents and educational policy makers is to realize that intense intellectual input and...

Anonymous wrote: Goodman wrote: New2grammar wrote: Thanks, Yoong Liat! This is interesting. Does it mean if a guy walks up to me and sees the passenger next to me covered in blood and asks "What happened?", I should say "He was shot" instead of "He has been shot"? Hi New2grammar, This...

Goodman wrote: New2grammar wrote: Thanks, Yoong Liat! This is interesting. Does it mean if a guy walks up to me and sees the passenger next to me covered in blood and asks "What happened?", I should say "He was shot" instead of "He has been shot"? Hi New2grammar, This is my analogy. ...

New2grammar wrote: Thanks, Yoong Liat! This is interesting. Does it mean if a guy walks up to me and sees the passenger next to me covered in blood and asks "What happened?", I should say "He was shot" instead of "He has been shot"? Hi New2grammar, This is my analogy. The fact that...

You make of confusion, which is made by many, of linking the mood used (subjunctive or indicative) to the form of the verb, not to the meaning of the sentence. As your sentence indicates unreality, it is in the subjunctive mood (informal speech, I'd say). Unfortunately, only few grammars...

Since the past tense doesn't imply anything about now, would you find those past tenses I used ok?Of course! You can tell us whatever you want. You can tell us about something in the past or you can tell us about something in the present, or whatever combinations you'd like. Just don't...

MrPedantic wrote:7. He looked at me as if I was crazy. #7 implies a backshifted version of "He's looking at me as if I'm crazy", and is my own preference, as I don't much like the past subjunctive with a closed condition. But it does slightly evade the problem; unless you take "as if I was"...

"Grammar and exercises are only requirements of the syllabus, not of learning a language. Did you learn the grammar of your mother-tongue when you were acquiring it? Most of you may still not know the grammar of your mother-tongue but you speak it effortlessly." If grammar means identifying...