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Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

Magician and english grammar

Just seen a so called "mentalist"-magician do some ticks on youtube, he quite often used the expression "Were you thinking of the six of diamond (or any other card)". Why did he use past progressive and not just simple past or even present perfect. I would prefer present perfect because the "thinking process" continued till the present and then is somehow revealed, or am I on the wrong track? These tenses really confuse me..

Thanks!
  

Top answer

Anonymous he quite often used the expression "Were you thinking of the six of diamond s (or any other card)". Why did he use past progressive and not just simple past or even present perfect. It depends on when in the series of events this was said.

— CalifJim

  • Anonymous he quite often used the expression "Were you thinking of the six of diamond s (or any other card)".
  • Why did he use past progressive and not just simple past or even present perfect.
  • It depends on when in the series of events this was said.
  • " is appropriate after that point.
  • The revelation event is the dividing line that puts the thinking into the past or present.
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3 Answers
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Anonymoushe quite often used the expression "Were you thinking of the six of diamonds (or any other card)". Why did he use past progressive and not just simple past or even present perfect.
It depends on when in the series of events this was said. If there is some kind of "end point" to the trick, like the revealing
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Thank you! Can you use the present perfect also? Because this tense would put emphasis on the fact that the revelation is very important in the present and so was the thinking in the past.. ?

"What card have you thought off?" "seven of hearts" "and here it is!" "amazing!"
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AnonymousCan you use the present perfect also?
No, because it's too time-dependent. As I said, there's the revelation event, and that means everything before that is considered in the past. The present perfect won't give the correct shade of meaning.

There are many languages, especially in Europe, where the present perfect can give the effect you're
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