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Present Tense and Past tense in context

There is a text/ paragraph as follows:

If I have a description at the start, say "I visited Thailand. There were a lot of nice restaurants.", then if I would like to express that I like the food there, I guess I can use present tense, like "I love the food there.

But I want to know what tense should we use for "It is delicious." which is the sentence after "I love the food there".

Should I say "It is delicious." or "It was delicious."?

1 Answer 1

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You can use past and present together. I'll try showing some examples.

"People, I met five years ago, visit me every month." - means a general action or a habit true in present.
So I met them, and then they started visiting me. And they still do.

"People, I met five years ago, visited(=used to visit) me every month." - means a completed action in the past which doesn't happen in present.
I met them, and then they started visiting me. But it's over as those visits stopped at some point in the past.

As for your examples.
If you want to say you still consider the Thai food to be delicious, then you choose Past + Present.
If you it was delicious only at the time you were in Thailand, then Past + Past.

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  • Really thanks for your help. Do you mean if I say "I love the food there.", then it can either be 'It was delicious." or "It is delicious." following "I love the food there." depending on my meaning?
    – Alan
    Commented Jan 12, 2021 at 5:43
  • @Alan, yes, that's right. You're welcome.
    – Ren
    Commented Jan 12, 2021 at 6:09

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