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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Might as the past tense of May
Hi there,
I'm trying to convert a sentence from the present tense to the past tnese.
The sentence: If someone drops an egg on the ground, the egg may break".
The past tense: If someone dropped an egg on the ground, the egg might break.
However, my friend told me that it was ungrammatical. His suggestion was "If someone dropped an egg on the ground, the egg might have broken".
Can you tell me which sentence is correct and why? Your help is highly appreciated!
Jeffrey Wei
I'm trying to convert a sentence from the present tense to the past tnese.
The sentence: If someone drops an egg on the ground, the egg may break".
The past tense: If someone dropped an egg on the ground, the egg might break.
However, my friend told me that it was ungrammatical. His suggestion was "If someone dropped an egg on the ground, the egg might have broken".
Can you tell me which sentence is correct and why? Your help is highly appreciated!
Jeffrey Wei
Top answer
I am not sure what the reason is, but the conjugation of certain auxilary words are required to show the tense in which an event took place. e. " John asked me to loan him $500, but I couldn't because my wife wouldn't let me" With this past tense structure, we can clearly see past tense conjugated with the "couldn't" and "wouldn't".
- I am not sure what the reason is, but the conjugation of certain auxilary words are required to show the tense in which an event took place.
- e.
- " John asked me to loan him $500, but I couldn't because my wife wouldn't let me" With this past tense structure, we can clearly see past tense conjugated with the "couldn't" and "wouldn't".
- There are other speech patterns in which we use these aux words to suggest a certain degree of certainty or likelihood.
- " John: I might depending on what time my son finishes his soccer game.
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27 Answers
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I am not sure what the reason is, but the conjugation of certain auxilary words are required to show the tense in which an event took place. i.e. " John asked me to loan him $500, but I couldn't because my wife wouldn't let me"
With this past tense st
With this past tense st
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dimsumexpressIf you fell down the stairs last night and you felt ok but this morning your ankle is swollen, you can say " My ankle might have been broken when I felt.""when I felt" at the end of this sentence is not idiomatic.
It's extremely rare to use "I felt" without either an object or a complement.
Sometimes we say, "I felt for him,"
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Avangi,
OK, it was a slip of the mind or typo, whatever it was, It should be "when I fell", not "felt".
OK, it was a slip of the mind or typo, whatever it was, It should be "when I fell", not "felt".
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Avangi, I believe what dimsumexpress meant was "... when I fell". The "felt" there was a typo.
Thank you, Dimsumexpress. You pointed out that the "the egg might have broken" was incorrect. Do you think "If someone dropped an egg on the ground, the egg might break." is alright or not?
All the dictionaries (online or on the paper) that I read so far suggested that "might" could be
Thank you, Dimsumexpress. You pointed out that the "the egg might have broken" was incorrect. Do you think "If someone dropped an egg on the ground, the egg might break." is alright or not?
All the dictionaries (online or on the paper) that I read so far suggested that "might" could be
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No probs!
By the way, what's wrong with "The egg might have broken." ??
By the way, what's wrong with "The egg might have broken." ??
dimsumexpress" The egg might have broken " sentence is not a correct sentence pattern.Ah, I see. You don't mean this sentence, but the conditional sentence which included this as a clause.
AnonymousI'm trying to convert a sentence from the
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I'm little confused, dimsumexpress.
"My ankle might have been broken when I fell." seems similar to "If someone dropped an egg on the ground, the egg might have broken".
If you say the former is OK, then why not the latter?
The difference that I can see in the two sentences is the "when" and "if".
Let's rephrase it a little bit. What about "My ankle might have
"My ankle might have been broken when I fell." seems similar to "If someone dropped an egg on the ground, the egg might have broken".
If you say the former is OK, then why not the latter?
The difference that I can see in the two sentences is the "when" and "if".
Let's rephrase it a little bit. What about "My ankle might have
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Hi Avangi,
Thank
AvangiTo effectively change the time frame of the "if" clause, wouldn't you have to move to past perfect?Yes, I agree that the "past perfect" sentence would work fine. But I still want to know whether my "past tense" sentence is correct or not. Or is it correct but unusual?
If I had dropped an egg, the egg might have broken.
Thank
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Hi Avangi,
Thanks for the quick reply.
My sample sentence was kind of out-of-context. But if the sentence was like "The
Thanks for the quick reply.
AvangiThe danged problem seems to be that the time frame of the "If I dropped" clause is ambiguous.
AvangiI just don't think it's necessarily past tense. Obviously, the egg has not yet broken!
My sample sentence was kind of out-of-context. But if the sentence was like "The
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The difference is being "active" and "passsive" which was the case with my sample sentence.
I'm little confused, dimsumexpress.
"My ankle might have been broken when I fell." seems similar to "If someone dropped an egg on the ground, the
I'm little confused, dimsumexpress.
"My ankle might have been broken when I fell." seems similar to "If someone dropped an egg on the ground, the
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AnonymousMy sample sentence was kind of out-of-context. But if the sentence was like "The teacher told the boy that if someone dropped an egg on the ground, the egg might break.", then it would be necessary to use the past tense.I can't assure you that you won't find an "authority" who says you must use "dropped" rather than "drops."
In the case you des
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