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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Maintaining present tense perspective
Hi. Please help. Let us pretend someone is trying to elicit a short response from students as part of a classroom assignment, based on a hypothetical situation that is in the present tense. Which tense should it be for the underlined part?
(made-up situation)
Q: What would you do if you were in this situation?
You meet a distant cousin, whom you haven't seen for a long time/whom you didn't see for a long time. He approaches you and says "hi" to you....
(made-up situation)
Q: What would you do if you were in this situation?
You meet a distant cousin, whom you haven't seen for a long time/whom you didn't see for a long time. He approaches you and says "hi" to you....
Top answer
Hi, Present Perfect, to refer to 'the past up until now'. Clive
- Hi, Present Perfect, to refer to 'the past up until now'.
- Clive
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4 Answers
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Hi. Thank you. Would it still be correct if we inserted the sentence in parentheses, which is in the present perfect tense, after the first sentence in the "made-up situation"? Thank you for your anticipated help.
I wrote:
(made-up situation)
Q: What would you do if you were in this situation?
You meet a distant cousin, whom you ha
I wrote:
(made-up situation)
Q: What would you do if you were in this situation?
You meet a distant cousin, whom you ha
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That's all correct, including the bit in parentheses.
The only part that doesn't really make sense is "whom you didn't see for a long time". You'd need to use your first option, the present perfect.
The only part that doesn't really make sense is "whom you didn't see for a long time". You'd need to use your first option, the present perfect.
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