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Anonymous Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
He would attempt. He attempted.
I ignored him for several months. On the 10th of October 2006, he would attempt to tarnish my name with fabricated evidence.
I ignored him for several months. On the 10th of October 2006, he attempted to tarnish my name with fabricated evidence.
When writing a report in the past tense, are either of these wrong?
I know that the latter sentence is definitely correct. However, does that mean that the former is wrong?
I've heard the former used many times in biographies, documentaries of the past, movies, basically in many narratives. Is it wrong though?
I ignored him for several months. On the 10th of October 2006, he attempted to tarnish my name with fabricated evidence.
When writing a report in the past tense, are either of these wrong?
I know that the latter sentence is definitely correct. However, does that mean that the former is wrong?
I've heard the former used many times in biographies, documentaries of the past, movies, basically in many narratives. Is it wrong though?
Top answer
Whether #1 is wrong or not depends on the surrounding narrative. If the narrative places us before 10/10/06, then 'would' is possible, since it represents 'future-in-the-past', an event that has not yet occurred at the narrated time.
- Whether #1 is wrong or not depends on the surrounding narrative.
- If the narrative places us before 10/10/06, then 'would' is possible, since it represents 'future-in-the-past', an event that has not yet occurred at the narrated time.
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1 Answers
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Whether #1 is wrong or not depends on the surrounding narrative. If the narrative places us before 10/10/06, then 'would' is possible, since it represents 'future-in-the-past', an event that has not yet occurred at the narrated time.
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