Tagged Questions
0
votes
1answer
79 views
Can we use past perfect progressive in the context where present tense is predominantly used?
As I understand, past perfect is used to express an action that had happened before something else in the past. But in the paragraph I came across, there appeared past perfect progressive in the ...
-5
votes
2answers
360 views
Difference between present tense and present continuous tense when using “is” and “are” [closed]
He is my brother.
They are my friends.
These two sentences are in the present tense, but I thought the verbs "is" and "are" were used only in the present continuous tense. If this is so, how then ...
0
votes
2answers
72 views
'I knew you are John's brother' vs 'I knew you were John's brother'
Suppose you are John's brother, and I talked with you several days ago. I knew that when I talked with you. Now I'm meeting with you again and want to tell you I knew then that you are John's ...
0
votes
2answers
88 views
“I stay in Canada” vs. “I will stay in Canada” [duplicate]
Situation: I am in Canada and will go back to Hong Kong next week. So, I want to tell my friends that "I will stay in Canada until the 6th of March".
Question: I do not know if the word will should ...
1
vote
4answers
226 views
“I came from Italy” or “I come from Italy”
If I originally lived in Italy and then moved to the United States and currently live in the United States. Then somebody asked me where I am from. I say:
I come/came from Italy.
Should it ...
2
votes
2answers
57 views
“The more time a person invests” vs. 'the more time a person will invest'
Consider the following two sentences:
Because the more time a person invests into specific interests, the better their results.
Because the more time a person will invest into their specific ...
4
votes
2answers
136 views
“Decided to do X the next time she went for a walk” vs. “…the next time she goes for a walk”
I came across this sentence in the book Grammar Essentials for Dummies which confused me.
The lion with a thorn in her paw decided to wear sneakers the next time she went for a walk in the jungle.
...
2
votes
1answer
756 views
Questions in indirect speech and verb tense change
Today I had another English lesson and all students were instructed by teacher to ask each other few predefined questions and then to report them. I got the following questions:
"What kind of ...
0
votes
1answer
177 views
Present simple vs. present perfect
I'm doing a key word transformation and I've come to this sentence:
There aren't any eggs left.
"We ____ eggs".
I should complete the sentence with 2–5 words using the word "run".
At first I ...
-1
votes
2answers
207 views
Present Simple or Present Continious [closed]
I have to write an email to inform other people about some error that occurred.
I want to write:
It is returning "value1" instead of "value2" when I select something which is causing the error.
...
6
votes
3answers
242 views
Present simple on temporary action
Mary is sleeping in the living room while we redecorate her room.
Why is the present simple "redecorate" used? Present simple is used when there's something permanent, but they don't want to ...
5
votes
1answer
320 views
Is every sentence in a tense?
I know that "tense" indicates time. If that is true, then not every sentence can be indicated of its tense.
Please review these sentences:
"If I could go to the market , I must have taken breakfast ...
6
votes
3answers
598 views
What tense is “If I were a bird, I could fly”
The sentence is not referring to any time past, present of future. It's just referring to an imaginary condition which has never existed and seemingly will never exist. Still, the sentence and other ...
2
votes
3answers
73 views
“U.S. stocks were modestly higher at the opening bell Wednesday” vs. “… are higher …”
Here's a news heading from CNN:
U.S. stocks were modestly higher at the opening bell Wednesday as political wrangling over the fiscal cliff continues to dominate the market.
The author used ...
1
vote
3answers
296 views
Correct use of tense
Can you please confirm which of the following three is correct?
I shared some ideas with Jon, which he agrees is a good solution for the problem we are facing.
I shared some ideas with Jon, ...
5
votes
1answer
180 views
Tense used with statistics
I would like to place a statistics in front of the sentence, followed by the agency that has reported it. The findings and reports were done many years ago. Which of the two is correct and why?
...
-1
votes
3answers
364 views
Present Simple instead of Present Perfect
I have come across interesting cases several times where the Present Simple is used instead of the Present Perfect. For example:
1) Lately I get the feeling that I am not so much being pulled down as ...
1
vote
1answer
856 views
Confused by the past tense and the present tense
Suppose I'm talking about some design scheme. I say something like
"foo was once designed and implemented in a way called bar that ...". Then I want to introduce the original scheme "bar", for ...
5
votes
2answers
334 views
“The author wrote” vs. “the author writes”
What is the rule for the following examples?
In the passage, the author writes. . . .
In the passage, the author wrote. . . .
I’m trying to explain to my son that both are correct, but I can’t ...
-3
votes
2answers
131 views
Using verb continuous for living abroad for a period of time [closed]
Suppose that a friend of mine is Thai and he usually lives in Thailand. Now he is in Australia and he is going to live in Australia for only a few years.
Should I say “A friend of mine is living in ...
6
votes
3answers
5k views
Simple Past vs. Present Perfect: “was” vs. “has been” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
“Did it close” vs “Has it closed”?
Which is correct: “has died” or “died”?
How do the tenses in English correspond temporally to one another?
...
2
votes
3answers
3k views
“I've just arrived” vs. “I just arrived” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is “I just spent all my money” grammatically incorrect?
“I just ate them” and “I've just eaten them” — what's the difference in American and British English?
...
2
votes
3answers
452 views
What tense to use here (sending an email)
What should be the correct tense:
Dear XY,
As agreed, I am sending / I send this email so you can find...
0
votes
3answers
234 views
Since he left, nobody cares/has cared?
I would like to say that since one of my colleagues left, nobody cares about our project anymore. Or nobody has cared?
EDIT: I want to say that nobody cares now and it started when X left.
1
vote
1answer
481 views
What tense should be used here?
Is use of present simple correct in these examples?
My daughter goes to school tomorrow [for the first time].
I go to school to talk to my daughter's teacher tomorrow [and this happens ...
0
votes
1answer
73 views
“They develop skills at this age” vs. “they are developing skills at this age”
Which one is correct? If both are correct, are there any differences in meaning?
For children, the age of 3 is very
critical time, because they develop
their language skills rapidly at this
...
1
vote
3answers
947 views
“Like” or “have liked”? [closed]
Is this sentence correct?
From early ages people like travelling.
Isn't it better to say:
Since early ages people have liked travelling.
3
votes
2answers
892 views
“They knew what mercy is” vs. “they knew what mercy was”
They knew what mercy is.
They knew what mercy was.
Mercy is something that always exists so can I say is as in the above example?
4
votes
3answers
434 views
Tense change: previous actions on something that's currently true
I'm describing a situation that happened in the past. To explain it, I want to use a description that is both true now and true when the situation happened.
Specifically, I want something like:
...
5
votes
3answers
343 views
“He didn't know where New Jersey was”
I know the past tense carries the past tense in every dependent clause, but referring specifically to places or to things that are eternal, like the Earth, seems a bit weird and therefore we sometimes ...
