I [was/am] not tall enough
I have made up the sentences below.
(1) Last week, I didn't buy any soft drinks at ABC Store because I was not tall enough to reach them on the top shelf.
(2) Last week, I didn't buy any soft drinks at ABC Store because I am not tall enough to reach them on the top shelf.
Some of my non-native English speaking friends think "am" is correct because I stopped growing. My other friends think I need to use the simple past because it is consistent with the tense used in the sentence.
I am not sure who is correct. Please help me. Thank you very much.
Top answer
ansonguy I am not sure who is correct. Both are OK, but what is customary is to match tenses. If you are ever in doubt, match tenses.
- ansonguy I am not sure who is correct.
- Both are OK, but what is customary is to match tenses.
- If you are ever in doubt, match tenses.
- It is never wrong to match tenses in these constructions.
- didn't ...
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ansonguyI am not sure who is correct.
Both are OK, but what is customary is to match tenses.
If you are ever in doubt, match tenses. It is never wrong to match tenses in these constructions.
... didn't ... was not ...
CJ
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