Tagged Questions
6
votes
1answer
61 views
Which verb tense is used in OR compound objects?
For example:
We always get work done, regardless of what mood Bill or I is/am/are in.
Which tense of 'be' would be used here?
0
votes
1answer
120 views
Using 'will' vs. 'would' in this sentence
I'd like to know which one of the following is correct:
I would like to have a job which I will like and which will earn me a lot of money.
I would like to have a job which I would like and ...
1
vote
3answers
160 views
Choosing verb tenses
Can somebody please help me understand the whole timeline thing when it comes to choosing verb tenses?
Today, I asked a friend if he wanted anything because I was going to Starbucks for lunch. He ...
1
vote
2answers
155 views
What tense is “have been are”?
Here are some examples:
Meanings have been are still in constant flux. (Source)
I'm afraid to say that in the past the police have been are too keen to caution people. (Source)
That's ...
1
vote
1answer
147 views
'Has found' versus 'found' [duplicate]
When would one say "she has found her keys" as opposed to "she found her keys"? Are they equivalent, or at least partially equivalent? I'm not a native speaker and have been unable to find a pattern ...
0
votes
0answers
25 views
“I didn't know that Mary was an adult education student” — does this imply she no longer is one? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
He didn’t know where New Jersey was
“They knew what mercy is” vs. “they knew what mercy was”
Should we use past tense in "Lugo admitted he is the father"?
Present or ...
4
votes
2answers
135 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.
...
4
votes
1answer
510 views
Generalised rule for verb usage in simple present tense using participle
I'm doing a school exercise where I have to give an explanation of the underlined (or in this case bold) verb usage in given sentences, following this format:
I was waiting.
past continuous ...
57
votes
10answers
7k views
How many tenses are there in English?
Do we have 16 tenses in English?
With
future
present
past
future in the past
in these forms
simple
continuous
perfect
perfect continuous
Can we manipulate these together to create English ...
1
vote
3answers
106 views
Scripts ran/run/running/?
What is the correct verb construct in the following sentence?
Scripts ____ under cron have an empty environment.
Cron is a program that runs scripts at scheduled points in time (e.g. every ...
1
vote
1answer
195 views
Under what circumstances can the word “be” be used directly without any change? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
When should I use the subjunctive mood?
2 examples first:
1.It is announced that the accounting class of the 3rd and 4th hours on the morning of this Wednesday be ...
0
votes
2answers
726 views
“while at the same time” + -ing form?
In following sentence, I'm not sure if I have to use the -ing form or the infinitive.
I wanted to get rid of X, while at the same time not assuming/ assume
that...
The -ing form sounds better, ...
-2
votes
1answer
345 views
Is the usage 'was to have done' correct
... Washington intervened Tuesday and “advised” NAM participants as
well as Ban to turn Tehran down on its nuclear tour, which was to have
included the suspected nuclear-related explosives ...
-2
votes
1answer
221 views
came/come to an end [closed]
I am writing a letter, but got confused with "come/came to an end". Here is my scenario.
Few years back I was working for a company then switch to another company. Right now I am writing a letter ...
0
votes
3answers
277 views
Why different tenses? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Using verb tenses correctly
This is a quote from The Great Gatsby:
She smiled slowly and, walking through her husband as if he were a ghost, shook hands with Tom, ...
2
votes
4answers
1k views
“Have got” — verb form and tense
In the following sentence, what is the main verb and in what tense does it occur?
I have got a car.
There are two possible explanations that I can think of:
get as the main verb in the present ...
7
votes
1answer
194 views
Tagged question and perfect tense
I've just passed one of numerous English grammar online tests. And I agree with all the mistakes I've made except this one:
You ______ put it back before the boss comes ...
5
votes
3answers
297 views
Correct verb tense to use when referring to a law effective in the past
What is the correct tense to use when I'm referring to something which was in effect in the past, like a law or an act, but which now is not.
Which of the following is better?
The Statute of Anne ...
10
votes
6answers
977 views
Is using the present perfect old fashioned?
I was talking to a Singaporean (English is her native language. I think, closer to American rather than British) friend.
I learned in English class that you can use present perfect when there is a ...
2
votes
0answers
704 views
What verb tenses are commonly used in conversational English? [closed]
I have been learning the English language for five months. I have learned some basic verb tenses such as simple present, present continuous, simple past, past continuous, present perfect and present ...
0
votes
3answers
1k views
“never did” vs “never does”
Is the following sentence grammatical? :
Jack splits a blade of grass. He won't speak up. Never does. Tom will. Always does.
For some reason it sounds weird. I was wondering shouldn't it have ...
1
vote
3answers
2k views
Would be glad to
I was writing an email and faced the following situation:
I am coming to Oxford this summer. If you are still around, I would be glad to hang out with you.
Now normally we don't construct the ...
1
vote
2answers
2k views
Usage of “would have been”
In the movie "A Walk to remember" Jimmie's father says the following to his son-in-law who got into medical school. Actually Jimmie is dead when he says,
We are proud of you, son. Jimmie would ...
2
votes
1answer
567 views
Present perfect and present perfect continuous for actions in progress
My grammar book says that both present perfect and present perfect continuous, when used with "for, since, etc", express a situation that began in the past and continues to the present. When used ...
2
votes
4answers
189 views
Correct tense to express one's holding a professorship from 2007 to June 2012
When editing for a valedictory occasion, I came across this: "Prof. Li holds the XXX Professorship from 2007 to 2012." It is the tense of "holds" that baffles me.
If the sentence was one of the ...
3
votes
3answers
355 views
3rd conditional plus 2nd conditional?
"If you had seen him as a child, you would agree that he is extraordinary."
In this sentence, changing the past perfect to simple past strikes me as wrong, and changing the "would agree" to "would ...
2
votes
2answers
190 views
What is the correct usage of 'formerly' as time adverb?
PLEASE NOTE: JDK6 [is|was] formerly known as Project Mustang
In the previous sentence what is correct 'is' or 'was'? and why?
While reading a bug report I found this sentence with 'is' and now I'm ...
0
votes
2answers
259 views
“I thought they have taken it off” vs “I thought they took it off”
What is the difference between the usage of simple past and present perfect in the following:
Update: Here is the conversation.
A. I am going to get some food. [Apparently the food was there] B. ...
0
votes
2answers
208 views
has changed and is changed
While I was reading a grammar book I came upon this sentence:
'...but it has changed because the pronoun in front of it has
changed...'.
Why does the author use 'has' rather than 'is'?
Note: ...
1
vote
1answer
160 views
Tenses and Verbs [closed]
What kind of verbs are -- is, are, were ?
How do these words effect the tense of a sentence?
What tense is the sentence " They are engaged in something...." ?
1) They engage in doing something.
2) ...
1
vote
2answers
146 views
What makes you think I would just run away?
In Lost Dasmond talks to his future father in law and tells him the following:
What makes you think that I would run away.
I was wondering what tense it was and why 'would' not 'will'?
0
votes
2answers
442 views
Correct tense form after “if”
Let's say I use a misunderstood word in direct speech. After that, which is correct to use from the following?
I can explain, if you don't catch the meaning.
I can explain, if you haven't caught the ...
0
votes
1answer
234 views
Don't you think we went
I read the following in a book and I couldn't understand the mix of tenses. Is it related to some sort of conditional statements, requests, etc? Can't we simply say: 'Don't you think we go to London?' ...
2
votes
4answers
447 views
“Clicking the button saves… ” vs. “clicking the button will save…”
I wish to describe just what gets saved when the user clicks the 'Save' button on a web page. Should I write "Clicking the Save button saves all changes" or "Clicking the the Save button will save all ...
0
votes
5answers
257 views
Is past perfect appropriate here?
Is this sentence correct?
We had published the OpenCCU source code at the beginning of 2002. At first we had uploaded source code on Sourceforge and immediately began receiving thanks and wishlist ...
0
votes
0answers
64 views
Past or Perfect [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How do the tenses in English correspond temporally to one another?
What is the difference between the following statements if I was reporting about a device, bank ...
12
votes
2answers
337 views
Which form of a verb should I normally use after “what you have done is”?
Which form of a verb should I normally use after "what you have done is"? Should it be present participle (option A), past participle (option B) or a base form (option C) :
A. I wanted you to clean ...
-2
votes
1answer
543 views
For what verbs is there no difference between 'has …' and 'has been …ing'? [closed]
For some verbs like 'live', where if you say "have lived" it means you lived somewhere for a period of time but that is not true anymore, and if you say "have been living" it means you still live in ...
3
votes
2answers
2k views
Tense of “lie”/“lay” in a clause
I've been using "lay" but many people have looked at my sentence dubiously.
However, while in secondary school, I abandoned my higher scientific aspirations because I became more focused on a ...
2
votes
2answers
1k views
Using “are” or “were” for warnings
Which of the following sentences is correct?
If you are caught stealing you will be fined.
If you were caught stealing you will be fined.
5
votes
6answers
419 views
“I had John return the video”: why do we use “return” instead of “returns” or “returned”?
I had John return the video for me.
In this sentence, why do we use return and not returns or returned?
2
votes
1answer
20k views
where should we use has/have been and had been?
Where should we use "has/have been" and "had been"? What is the difference between
them?
3
votes
2answers
122 views
(was + was) vs (was + is)
I was wondering what's the difference between these two sentences:
The person who was at the head of the demonstration is Ms. Tan.
The person who was at the head of the demonstration was Ms. ...
2
votes
2answers
433 views
Using verb tenses correctly
I'm trying to keep this descriptive essay in the past tense. I bolded the words of my concern (and italicized the ones I believe are in the right tense) in the following passage:
As a result of ...
2
votes
4answers
226 views
Explanations on the tense of the expression, “XX said that…”
Here's the example that triggered me to ask this question
Sony Corp. said Thursday it wants to become the biggest player in Japan's growing Android tablet market by changing the way the devices ...
2
votes
4answers
873 views
Explain the verb tense in “I wish I never woke up this morning”
This is from a song by Police, Darkness:
"I can dream up schemes when I'm sitting in my seat
I don't see any flaws 'til I get to my feet
I wish I never woke up this morning
Life was easy ...
4
votes
3answers
294 views
Is “lay” in this sentence in the correct tense?
I'm making a description for an app, this strikes me as a bit awkward for some reason:
"I wanted to create an app that lay somewhere between an ecosystem and a musical instrument."
Is the word ...
1
vote
5answers
6k views
Can I use “I have asked something”
I wonder whether “ask” can be used as verb in past or present perfect tense. I used “I have asked something from somebody” in email, but this sentence sounds a little weird to me. So I want to check ...
1
vote
5answers
389 views
speaking about conditional past event using had (verb)… would (verb)
If the author had spent any time in China, they would know that an “engineer” in China is NOT the same as an “engineer” in the USA. This is a mistranslation. An “engineer” in China is equivalent to ...
3
votes
1answer
6k views
“Being ran”, “being runned” or something else?
The past tense of run is ran. However, you couldn't say something was being "ran" poorly i.e. the business was ran poorly. However, saying "runned" would be wrong as well. What would be the word to ...
