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Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

Agreement of tenses

Hi! I am confused about this sentence. Which is the correct one?

"Ever since she was a kid, I KNOW that she has always wanted to be a doctor."

"Ever since she was a kid, I KNEW that she has wanted to be a doctor."

or

"Ever since she was a kid, she WANTED to be a doctor."

"Ever since she was a kid, she HAS WANTED to be a doctor."

Which is the best sentence? I always have trouble with my tenses, Im always worried that there's no agreement among them.

Thanks. I know you can help me.
  

Top answer

I KNOW that she has always wanted to be a doctor ever since she was a kid . "-- but she probably does not want to now, or she is dead. "-- And she still wants to or has just become one.

— Mister Micawber

  • I KNOW that she has always wanted to be a doctor ever since she was a kid .
  • "-- but she probably does not want to now, or she is dead.
  • "-- And she still wants to or has just become one.
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8 Answers
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I KNOW that she has always wanted to be a doctor ever since she was a kid."-- OK


"Ever since she was a kid, she WANTED to be a doctor."-- but she probably does not want to now, or she is dead.


"Ever since she was a kid, she HAS WANTED to be a doctor."-- And she still wants to or has just
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AnonymousIm always worried that there's no agreement
You aren't necessarily going to be able to make agreement in a since clause. The since clause is before the main clause.

She has been happy since she got married.
She has wanted to be a doctor since she was 8 years old.
We have not seen any m
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wow thanks for the prompt reply!

so that means i can use the present tense of "know" even if the other verbs in the sentence are in the past tense?

is this sentence still sounds ok?

"I knew that she wanted to be a doctor ever since she was a kid."

or

"i know that she wanted to be a doctor ever since she was a kid."

sorry if i seem to ask a
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thank you so much!

so, is this sentence ok?

"I KNEW that she WANTED/HAS WANTED/HAD WANTED to do something like that."

oh ***. i think im just confuisng myself.

but thanks so much for the help.
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or can i also use:

"I KNOW that she WANTED to do something like that."

thanks so much
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It all depends on the idea you want to convey.
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There are basically two kinds of tenses.

Present point of view: am, is, are, do, does, have, has, will, can, may, ...
Any verb in the present, present perfect, or future of the present (with will).

Past point of view: was, were, did, had, would, could, might, ...
Any verb in the past, past perfect, or future of the past (with would
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Wow! Thank you so much for your help. I think I will be posting questions more frequently on this site from now on. Please don't get tired of me!
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