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Anonymous Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Mixed tenses (present perfect and past tense)

"I have chanced upon a job posting on your company website and decided to apply."

I am writing an email to a job agency. Can I mix present perfect and past tense in one sentence? 

Thank you.
  

Top answer

Anonymous Can I mix present perfect and past tense in one sentence? Yes, you can. But I don't think your example sentence is necessarilly one of those cases.

— Ivanhr

  • Anonymous Can I mix present perfect and past tense in one sentence?
  • Yes, you can.
  • But I don't think your example sentence is necessarilly one of those cases.
  • I have been to Paris and seen the Eifell Tower.
  • (one have is enough) Since "decide" is a regular verb (it has the same form (decided) for both present perfect and simple past), we can't be sure what exactly "decided" is but the present perfect makes more sense in the given context.
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4 Answers
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AnonymousCan I mix present perfect and past tense in one sentence?
Yes, you can. But I don't think your example sentence is necessarilly one of those cases.

I have been to Paris and seen the Eifell Tower. (one have is enough)

Since "decide" is a regular verb (it has the same form (decided) for both present perfect and simple pa
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For a job correspondence, I would just simply say " I have come across a job posting.....and decided to apply".
AnonymousI am writing an email to a job agency. Can I mix present perfect and past tense in one sentence?
Decided - in this sentence is in its present perfect form; " I have come across ...and decided to..."
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Hi Ivanhr,

Thanks for your explanation.

Can you give some example sentences for mixed tenses(present perfect and simple past)?

Hi grammarfreak,

Thanks for your suggestion. I will edit the content.
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AnonymousCan you give some example sentences for mixed tenses(present perfect and simple past)?
He moved to Germany 5 years ago and has lived there ever since.
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