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Hi everyone,I have problems understanding the grammar of the following sentences. The tenses are changing back and forth from past to present and then back to past again. Very confusing. I thought it's good practice to be consistent with the tenses in our sentences.In the same pool of respondents, 28 per cent admitted that they have a shade of racism, nine per cent openly declared themselves racists while three per cent said they did not know.Out of the 60 per cent who felt they were not racists, 30 per cent said they would not vote for a candidate who is of a different race from them, while 34 per cent of them also said they felt that race-based politics was still relevant. Please help.Thank you.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

AnonymousThe tenses are changing back and forth from past to present and then back to past again.

Yes, but only in the subordinate clauses. The main clauses (and many of the subordinate clauses) stay in the past.

... admitted ... declared ... said (did not know) ... (felt) ... said ... said (felt) (was)

Apparently this shows the results of a recent poll, so there is strong reason to believe that some of the subordinate clauses are about things that remain true of the respondents. These are generally the places where the present is used.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

AnonymousIn the same pool of respondents, 28 per cent admitted that they have a shade of racism

In the sentence above, the writer chose "have" to show the respondents are still racists.

Anonymouswhile 34 per cent of them also said they felt that race-based politics was still relevant.

However, the writer chose to use "was", even though race-based politics is still relevant now.

What is the reason for the choice ?

Thank you.

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousHowever, the writer chose to use "was", even though race-based politics is still relevant now.What is the reason for the choice ?

There really is no reason. You don't need to have a very definite, logical reason for every choice between present and past in a subordinate clause. There is often no difference in meaning anyway. No matter whether the listener hears you say "is" or "was", he will understand the idea in the same way. No one listens closely enough to remember exactly which tense is used in each clause of a given sentence.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you very much.

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