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As he rides even in bad weather, sometimes he entered the building with his face and whole body covered with mud.

-> My intention: He regularly rides a bike, and he will probably ride a bike regardless of weather as well. And the times I saw him, he entered the building with mud on his face and body.

Is that a right sentence?

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3 Answers 3

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The second part of the sentence needs to be framed if there's no possibility of you seeing him enter the building in that way again.

e.g.

As he rides even in bad weather, sometimes he entered the building with his face and whole body covered with mud while I lived there.

If it's likely you'll see this again - if you still live/work/... there - then the main clause needs to be in present tense.

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  • Yes, good point. My own answer assumed no further qualification. But if you place a further clause with a past time construction on it, then the past tense "entered" is valid.
    – WS2
    Commented Apr 29, 2020 at 9:38
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The implication of the sentence is that while he continues to ride a bike, he has (for one reason or another) stopped entering the building in a muddy condition, e.g. he now works somewhere else, or has taken to cleaning himself down before entering the building. .

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  • I think the intended sense is, "Used to driving even in bad weather, sometimes he entered the building with his face and whole body covered with mud."
    – Ram Pillai
    Commented Apr 29, 2020 at 9:24
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    @RamPillai But my point is that the use of the past tense indicates that the entering of the building has ceased.
    – WS2
    Commented Apr 29, 2020 at 9:35
  • Yes, I got it :)
    – Ram Pillai
    Commented Apr 29, 2020 at 9:50
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To my ear it sounds a bit clunky. I'd suggest,

As he rides even in bad weather, sometimes he would enter the building with his face and whole body covered with mud.

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  • Again this implies that the entering of the building has ceased.
    – WS2
    Commented Apr 29, 2020 at 9:36

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