I started when I was 18

Question

Hi,I started doing it when I was 18.Does this mean that I still do it?

Rover_KE · Accepted Answer

If you said 'I started smoking when I was 18' I would assume you were still a smoker, unless you added 'but I stopped when I was 35'.

Rover

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousI started doing it when I was 18.Does this mean that I still do it?

Which part of "I started doing it when I was 18" says you continued to do it? No part of it.
Which part says you stopped doing it? No part of it.

Do you still do it? Completely unknown. There's no information in that sentence that could answer this question, stare at it though you may for hours.

More often than not, it's not the words we say but the situation in which we say them that enables us to deduce such things.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you.

I traveled a lot since the year I turned 17. - Does this mean that I don't travel anymore?
I have traveled a lot since the year I turned 17. - This one shows us that I still travel a lot?

Could somebody check the sentences? Thanks.

Anonymous · Answer

I started to do it...- Is this also acceptable?

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousI traveled a lot since the year I turned 17. - Does this mean that I don't travel anymore?

No. But it doesn't mean that you do either. In fact, the sentence is a bit anomalous. I don't think we native speakers would very often use a sentence like that. 'since' with that meaning is usually used with a perfect tense, as it is below.

AnonymousI have traveled a lot since the year I turned 17. - This one shows us that I still travel a lot?

Yes. In this case it would be reasonable to make that deduction.

CJ

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousI started to do it...- Is this also acceptable?

Yes.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Thanks. I was told here on this forum but in another thread that if I used 'Why can I not' I'd sound like a stuck-up prig, not an ordinary bloke. Is that true? Does that apply to all the abbreviations? Or, 'Are you not' and 'Aren't you'. What is the difference?
___
Also,

The first conditional: If it rains tomorrow, we'll go to the cinema.
But if I had to reported I'd say: She said if it rained tomorrow, we'd go to the cinema. - This reminds me of the second conditional. Is it? Does the 'she said' change the meaning?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

AnonymousThanks. I was told here on this forum but in another thread that if I used 'Why can I not' I'd sound like a stuck-up prig, not an ordinary bloke. Is that true? Does that apply to all the abbreviations? Or, 'Are you not' and 'Aren't you'. What is the difference?___Also, The first conditional: If it rains tomorrow, we'll go to the cinema.But if I had to reported I'd say: She said if it rained tomorrow, we'd go to the cinema. - This reminds me of the second conditional. Is it? Does the 'she said' change the meaning?

Pardon, but I said "If you say it." I did not say "If you use it." I was referring to conversational English among friends, not formal writing. People use these abbreviations.

Anonymous · Answer

AlpheccaStarsPardon, but I said "If you say it." I did not say "If you use it." I was referring to conversational English among friends, not formal writing. People use these abbreviations.

Do you use it when talking to friends? Do your friends use it?

CalifJim · Answer

Anonymousthat if I used 'Why can I not' I'd sound like a stuck-up prig, not an ordinary bloke. Is that true?

Though it is expressed in an exaggerated way, it certainly rings true. Yes.

AnonymousDoes that apply to all contractions ~~the abbreviations~~?

Yes. The difference has nothing to do with meaning. It has to do with style. The use of contractions signals a normal style that speakers of English have come to expect. Not using contractions in conversations can indicate that the speaker is a foreigner who has not yet mastered English, or it can indicate that the speaker is trying to be funny by using very old-fashioned ways of speaking or by using ways of speaking more appropriate for a public speech by a head of state.

AnonymousThe first conditional: If it rains tomorrow, we'll go to the cinema.But if I had to reported I'd say: She said if it rained tomorrow, we'd go to the cinema. - This reminds me of the second conditional. Is it? Does the 'she said' change the meaning?

If the direct quote is a first conditional, the reported version (e.g., after 'said') will be in the same form as a second conditional, but I think it would be better to call it a reported first conditional. The meaning of the original statement doesn't change just because it is reported.

"If it rains, I'll stay home."
I said that if it rained, I'd stay home.

CJ

I started when I was 18

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