Can a sentence of two independent clauses joined by a conjunction have separate tenses?

Question

Can a sentence of two independent clauses joined by a conjunction have separate tenses, for example perfect and past?
"I had ordered the steak, but you brought me the spaghetti!"
Is that correct?

Thank you.

Terryxpress · Accepted Answer

"I had ordered the steak, but ~~you~~ he/she/they brought me the spaghetti!"

Past Perfect, and Past Tense

Therealdrag0 · Answer

Why did you change the pronoun; how is that relevant?

Terryxpress · Answer

Because the sentence began...began...with a verb form in the Past Perfect!
How is that still grammatically correct, when 'ordered' must have come before 'brought'? - the two events are in the correct time sequence, so how come I can use Past Perfect? (Then it might become clearer why I had to change the pronoun from 'you').

and
I ordered steak, but you have brought me spag bog.

Therealdrag0 · Answer

Sorry, that didn't clarify. Why would the pronoun change the order of the verbs and their meaning? I think you are reading into the sentence and situation irrelevant details. Or you think I mean something when I mean something else, etc?

Let's try this: I order. The waiter brings the food. Then the waiter leaves. Then I call the waiter and say, "I had ordered the steak, but you brought me the spaghetti!" or would it be better, "You brought me the spaghetti, but I had ordered the steak!"

Thanks for the help.

Terryxpress · Answer

You asked:
Can a sentence of two independent clauses joined by a conjunction have separate tenses?

I have given you two example of this:
I ordered the steak, but you have brought me the spaghetti."
and
"I had ordered the steak, but ~~you~~ he/she brought me the spaghetti!"

two independent clauses joined by a conjunction have separate tenses

You asked why I changed the pronoun. I could not use 'you', with Past Perfect as the first verb form. In the situation depicted, 'you' would not be logical!

You then write:
Why would the pronoun change the order of the verbs and their meaning?
It didn't. The verb form I used required me to change the pronoun. The use of 'you', in terms of the significance of Past Perfect at the beginning of this sentence, is not logical.
Of course if I change the verb form, there is going to be some (even slight) change in meaning, or else why does the language have different verb forms?

Therealdrag0 · Answer

You write:
"logical . . . logical. . . logical"
But you have yet to explain what is not logical about it.

Terryxpress · Answer

Firstly, you tell me: In English, what is the purpose when we open a sentence in Past Perfect tense form, yet all the actions/events are in their correct time sequence?

Therealdrag0 · Answer

Same as any other time. To say that the 'perfect' event happened before another. What do you mean "correct time sequence"?

Therealdrag0 · Answer

Perhaps you could explain what the sentence in question would mean if "you" was used. What irrational thing would it imply?

Terryxpress · Answer

To say that the 'perfect' event happened before another.

Yes - as in, "I went to pay him, and then realized I had left my wallet in my other coat."

The 'leaving my wallet', as an event, occurred before 'went to pay'. However, in the sentence, it comes second. The Past Perfect is used to show that this event actually happened first.

But...'ordered' and 'brought', as separate events are already in their correct sequence, so why use the Past Perfect with 'ordered'????
"I had ordered the steak.....he brought me..."

Can a sentence of two independent clauses joined by a conjunction have separate tenses?

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