Search results for 'tag:Universities tag:Past tenses' matching tags 'Universities' and 'Past tenses'

use of past continuous

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 23:24:59 GMT

Hi, can you tell me what difference would it make if I changed the part underlined to past tense? I think I don't fully understand the use of past continuous in a narrative situation like the one below and what difference the choice of choosing a past continous tense over a past tense would make.

What Joe did last year:

He went to *** University in January.

He was planning to go to YYY University in February.

But instead, decided to stay in the same university.

Soon after, he was working (worked??) part-time in *** Juice Bar in March,

But he gave that up after working one month in order to devote more time to his study.

Re: singular / plural

Cool Breeze — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:16:59 GMT

Goodman
<<<<and "most grammarians accept "there was/were a television, a radio, a sofa and a table" >>> I guess I am not a grammarian.
I personally won't say "there were a television.."

No, I didn't think you would. To a grammarian, there is more to it than the next word. There are at least three views on this.

1. The rule of proximity: The first word after the verb is singular (a television), so a singular verb (was) can/should be used.

2. The rule of number: If only one thing is mentioned, use a singular verb (was); if more things are mentioned, use a plural verb (were). I remember a British graduate of Oxford University who lectured on English Philology at Helsinki University and was an enthusiastic proponent of this rule. He considered was wrong in cases like this. Similarly, he considered media is and algae is always wrong as well. I use the past tense because he is no longer alive.

3. Liberal grammarians, who don't really care which one of the above rules is applied. (As I said, I'm one of them!)

Re: What is the deference....?

YoungCalifornian — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:30:28 GMT

She went to Cambridge.

Went is the past tense of go. If you "go to" a school, it usually means you attend there as a student.

She has been to Cambridge.

Been is the past participle of be. The sentence literally means that at some point in the past she was at Cambridge, but not necessarilly that she was enrolled as a student. The usage of the past participle as opposed to the preterite also implies that there is a meaning or reason she was there that is relevant to the present.

She was in Cambridge.

Was is the past tense of be. It simply means that she was there is the past. Also, the use of the preposition "in" means that she was in the town of Cambridge. If you mean the univerisity, use the preposition "at" instead. Generally you don't say that you are "in" universities.

To sum up, the verb "to be" in reference to a university means that the subject is simply present at the university. To indicate that the subject is a present there as a student, one should use "to go to" or "to attend." The usage of the past participle (be=been, go=gone) in this context (i.e. perfect aspect) indicates a past action with direct relevance to the present.

present in a past-setting narrative

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 03:36:47 GMT

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 element, then the use of present tenses in midst of all past tenses is fine, I need your help in getting a concrete understanding of application part of it. Can you use some simple examples that might be used in such contexts to show me how it is done?

I went to university in *** and there, I saw this person named John. I have a weakness for an sports star and he was a well-known sports star, known to have won metals in international competitions.

Re: Help corrct my writing, please

Grammar Geek — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:43:25 GMT

I have highlighted errors. You use "he" and "your" and "I" so it's not clear who you are talking about. Your capitalization is uneven, and you need to use the past tense.

Anonymous

Please edit my paragraph writing. Thank you for helping me.
Introduce Myclassmate

The last class I interviewed my classmate His name is Atirach limphaiboon and he nickname is Toon. He is 19 years old. Your birthday is 7th July 1989. He was born in Chiang Rai province and move to Bangkok is a big city with my family when I was three years old. He live in donmuang , North Bangkok until He was 13 and he live near Saphan Khwai BTS, which is about fifteen minutes to Chandrakasem by bus. My favorite sport are football table tennis, volleyball and bicycling with his friends. He is single and lives with his best friend. He enjoy visiting tourists attractions and Traveling. He also enjoy read a catoon book-comic books, going to movies and watching TV. This semester, Atirach is studying art, English, and computer science. After university, He and His roommate work in a restaurant as waitresses. Atirach like his job very much. Your dream job would be to run a successful Internet company that helped people. He plans to become a lawyer. Atirach has an exciting lift, and he seems to have a bright future ahead of his. He have visited Belgium, Bazil, Chile, France and Mexico. He went to Rayong on my last vacation. It was great!. He do not have any pets, but he wish that he had a cat. My apartment does not allow pets. He have one brother and two sisters. if he won a million Baht, He would travel around the world. He would really like to visit New Zealand.

Re: Help with Cover Letter Letter pls

Mister Micawber — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 10:17:40 GMT

.
I have underlined some problem areas. One point-- usually, you should use simple past tense where you have used present perfect:

Motivation Letter:

The Graduate programme in Finance at Hampton College is according my target to develop my skills on the financial field for a knowledge improvement and a career progression on the financial industry. Regarding the excellent reputation of Hampton College in specific, the Department of Economics, and its international recognized researches, I have chosen Hampton to study. Furthermore, I also plan to do the Master in Finance at Hampton, after finishing the graduate finance program.

I have a work experience in La Caja, one of the biggest spanishes bank in assets, working in an external commission auditing loans contracts and reporting directly for the Spanish Central Bank and the National Treasury. After that, I have finished my degree and I came to London to improve my English skills when I have started to work in a International Company of Fundsâ Transfers, liasing with more than 240 banks around the world, processing and confirming multi FX settlements, treasury, daily reconcialitions and cheque risk administrations. Starting as sales executive and finishing as a manager in the central branch of the company.

Aside my working experience, I also have knowledge in stock market, being a keen awareness of world events, current affair and financial markets. My interest in those subjects have started after I made a course~~, during my degree,~~ in financial markets and technical chart analysis, and I have started to invest on the Madrid Stock Exchange using an online stockbroker platform.

I have studied the elementary and high school in a top school in Madrid, Montfort School, which allowed me to enter in a top 5 university in Madrid, Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Where I have studied Business Administration, what the equivalent in UK would be a Bachelor Hons Degree in Science in Business Administration. Which includes, statistics, finance, accounting, marketing, economics, administration, human resource and strategy planning.

Thus, I am very motivated in improve my mathematical skills and my technical knowledge in finance with Hampton College.

Your sincerely,

Anderson

Re: the last person/thing

Clive — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 19:27:23 GMT

Hi,

"Washing the dishes is the last thing I want to do."
Can the sentence probably mean 'I don't like to wash the dishes at all at any time ~~without having to do it in the future'~~? Yes.

Here is an example from online dictionary:
"Money was the last thing I cared about right now."
I can't figure out why the past tense (was,cared) is used with 'right now'; what does it mean? Generally speaking, 'now' means 'at the present time' or 'at the mentioned time'.

eg When I graduated from University, I was very happy. Now I could get a good job.

eg After work yesterday, in the parking lot, I put my hand in my pocket for my car keys. They weren't there. I tried my other pocket. They weren't there either. I decided that I had left them on my desk. I went back into my office. They weren't on my desk. Now I was really worried.

Best wishes, Clive

Re: I'm trying to write somekind of novel - "jobless"

Hampeh — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 14:40:06 GMT

Thank you sensei . I think I know where is my mistake. Itâs a past tense.

~~Actually I have, but since my employer did not pay my salary for three months ago, I just consider myself as jobless.~~

Actually I have, but since my employer did not paid my salary for three months, I just consider myself as jobless.

~~Finding a job seems like more difficult nowadays.~~

Finding a job seems more difficult nowadays.

~~For 5 years, after I was graduated from the university, I studied a lot of computer stuff, reading a lot of books, manuals, articles etc.~~

For 5 years, after I graduated from the university, I studied a lot of computer stuff, reading a lot of books, manuals, articles etc.

Sometimes, Iâm really tired being in this industry because you need to know more, to learn new things for every single day to make sure you are good enough and thatâs the reason why the employer want to kept you in the company.

Sometimes, Iâm really tired being in this industry because you need to know more, to learn new things every single day to make sure you are good enough and thatâs the reason why the employer keep you in the company.

attended

New2grammar — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 13:52:17 GMT

Nine out of ten students who attended this university graduated with distiction.

If used as a fact (for example, some stastistic to prospective students during a college tour or a news headline), I'd say it in the present tense as follows:

Nine out of ten students who attends this university graduates with distiction.

If stating it as a statistic quoted from a survey, I'd use the past tense:

Nine out of ten students who attended this university graduated with distiction.

Is my understanding correct?

Thanks in advance!

"ed" past tense

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 06:11:58 GMT

Hi there, I was wondering why is there a "ed" at the end of "invite" and "schedule" the sentence is not in past tense?

Everyone on campus is invited to come and enjoy free hot dogs, Pepsi products, chips, ice cream and more

Chuck Street is scheduled to land his helicopter at the University Park in the morning of the event.