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Spooner Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Keeping tenses consistent
Jenny suddenly confessed her love to me, saying even though it was understandable that I liked meeting girls due to my sexual orientation, she wanted to show me what true love was since I had never had a chance to experience it due to my psychiatric problem.
Hi,
I've been wondering, when explaining about things happened in the past, if I absolutely have to maks sure every verb involved is in past voice because when i do, it sounds a bit awkward to me (I don't know why).
IN the sentence above, regarding the verbs "was" which I underlined,
It just seems to sound better to me if I put "is" instead. But I am not sure whether it's ok or not.
Could anyone elucidate on that please?
Hi,
I've been wondering, when explaining about things happened in the past, if I absolutely have to maks sure every verb involved is in past voice because when i do, it sounds a bit awkward to me (I don't know why).
IN the sentence above, regarding the verbs "was" which I underlined,
It just seems to sound better to me if I put "is" instead. But I am not sure whether it's ok or not.
Could anyone elucidate on that please?
Top answer
You have already established that the action is in the past, and you can use the present for the rest. It is a question of stylistic choice imo. In a case like "what true love is", you are referring to something eternal, a definition, something that will not change, and so I would definately use "is" in such a case.
- You have already established that the action is in the past, and you can use the present for the rest.
- It is a question of stylistic choice imo.
- In a case like "what true love is", you are referring to something eternal, a definition, something that will not change, and so I would definately use "is" in such a case.
- Hope it helps.
- Cheers.
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2 Answers
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You have already established that the action is in the past, and you can use the present for the rest. It is a question of stylistic choice imo. In a case like "what true love is", you are referring to something eternal, a definition, something that will not change, and so I would definately use "is" in such a case.
Hope it helps. Cheers.
Hope it helps. Cheers.
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You can use the present if you like and if the fact is still true now, but native speakers normally regress the verbs as you have done in your example.
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