Help! Which Sentence Is Right?

Question

Help!I'm very confused with past/present tenses. Which sentence is right?1. "This is what makes him lost the match."2. "This is what made him lost the match."3. "This was what made him lost the match."4. "This is what makes him lose the match."5. "This is what made him lose the match."6. "This was what made him lose the match."Thank you!

Cool Breeze · Accepted Answer

After an active voice form of make only the plain/bare infinitive is correct. This means that Nos. 4 to 6 are right in the right circumstances and context.

CB

English2 · Answer

I don't quite understand, but thanks, CB!

Yankee · Answer

Hi English 2

You can think of "make somebody do (something)" as a sort of idiomatic expression. The verb "do" represents any verb and it must always be a bare infinitive in this expression. The verb "make" will reflect tense and number.

1. "This is what makes him ~~lost~~ the match."
2. "This is what made him ~~lost~~ the match."
3. "This was what made him ~~lost~~ the match."

Sentences 1, 2 and 3 are all grammatically incorrect because the "lost" is not a bare infinitive. You need the bare infinitive "lose" in the sentences.

4. "This is what makes him lose the match."
5. "This is what made him lose the match."
6. "This was what made him lose the match."

Sentences 4, 5 and 6 are all grammatically correct, and I would say sentence 5 is probably the most likely (based on the specific words used in the sentence). The context would be something like this:

He lost the match (i.e. one specific match in the past). There is something specific ("this") which caused the loss, and we are talking about the reason for the loss right now.

English2 · Answer

Yes, Yankee, we are talking about the reason for the loss. I'm gonna use #5 then. Thank you so much!

Help! Which Sentence Is Right?

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