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Hi, all.From news:"They say no meetings were ever scheduled between the imam and the governor."Does are in this sentence express the same meaning ? Why were ?Please advise me, Thanks !And"It's horrible, because I'm an adolescent and we don't have  anything," says former Rikers inmate Avion David. "We just sit there  all day and do nothing. We can't go anywhere. We have church services,  but we can't even go to church, we need escorts. It's a whole mess. We  just sit there."How come in this sentence, when the person talks, she didn't use past tense ? These were past event, so why not past tense ?

Philip · Accepted Answer

1. We aren't sure if there will be any in the future, but so far they aren't planned. Present would work, if that's the feeling one wants.

2. I get the feeling that this is still happening. Do you know for sure that it refers to the past (with no evidence possible of the future?

Lokon · Answer

Hi, Philip.
When I read this "former Rikers inmate Avion David" I got a feeling that she's no longer a Rikers inmate, so events that happened in the jail shall be past.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
I'm not sure why =(

CalifJim · Answer

She's been in jail there before, so she knows what it is like there -- or is in a good position to make a good guess about it. She's talking in terms of how things are (for everyone) there, making the plausible assumption that things haven't changed much since she was there -- not how things were for her when she was there. It is a little odd that she says "we", as if she were still part of the prison population. Perhaps she has only been out of prison a short while and feels mentally and emotionally as if she were still there.

CJ

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