She has asked Peter to bathe but he will not do it.
I'd like to know why we use present perfect (has asked ) and why we use (will) not (would ) ?
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Possible duplicate of Usage of "will" and "would"– Bhoomika AroraCommented Jun 16, 2017 at 8:54
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The tense of the verbs depends on the situation being described. I would interpret your sentence as describing a situation happening now (people at the beach?) Peter has just been asked by another person present if he will bathe, but he does not want to. If all this had happened last week, you might say "She asked (or 'had asked') Peter to bathe but he would not do it."– Kate BuntingCommented Jun 16, 2017 at 9:15
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Why shouldn't "we" use those tenses? What tenses do you think "we" should use there?– Arm the good guys in AmericaCommented Jun 16, 2017 at 10:10
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1 Answer
We use present perfect to show a relation to the present. In this case, I would assume that either Peter is refusing to bathe right now, or that he has been refusing to bathe for some time, and has not bathed yet.
The will here is probably the desire will, and not the future will: Peter does not desire to bath, rather than Peter is not going to bathe. You can't use would here because this is not something that happened in the past.
answered Jun 16, 2017 at 12:47
