past or present

Anonymous I Would it be all right if I [give / gave] you a call tomorrow?

Present or past. It doesn't matter after "Would it be all right if ...", though the grammar books probably advise using the past.

CJ

I'm confused on this one.

How can you use gave as a past tense when using in the future tense sentence?

Surely give is the correct one to use here as gave is the past tense of give

Is it alright if I give you a call tomorrow

I hope it was alright that I gave you a call yesterday

Maggie StarlingHow can you use gave as a past tense

The past tense has more than one use. It does not always indicate past time. A past tense in an if-clause usually indicates an imagined situation either in present time or in future time. The word if combined with the word would is important here.

CJ

No matter where I look, I cannot find a reference that accepts gave in the future tense. All references say that gave is the past tense of give

I'll leave it at that and see if anyone else can add to validity of this

Maggie StarlingNo matter where I look, I cannot find a reference that accepts gave in the future tense.

You probably won't find anything that specifically says that. This is a general pattern in which, as CJ said, the nominally "past tense" form of a verb is used with "if" to refer to an imagined situation that is not actually in the past. It has nothing

Maggie StarlingAll references say that gave is the past tense of give

gave IS the past tense of give. That's not the point.

It's a question of what the past tense is used for. It's not always used to indicate past time.

Tense is a verb form. Time is something else.

CJ