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Spongebob123 Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Please correct my sentences

I am now confused of the way I should use the tenses in my English. Below are some sentences which I heard on TV, some from the the news. I always think that when you are talking about something that has happened or in the past, it should always be using the past tense. I don't understand why the sentences below use the past tense in front and follow by the use of present tense there after. Am I wrong now? Shouldn't the sentences below all be in the past tense when they are a reported speech? Please correct the sentences below if the tenses are wrong and explain to me why. Please advice. Thank you.

- He said increase taxation is not the solution.

(This is what I think should be: He said increase taxation was not the solution.)

- She said the story may be real but the people are actors.

- I said your team is the weaker one.

- He said women have an easier life than men, did he?

- She said she likes me.

- He added that it is not just for ...

- He said there are dark clouds...

- I was wondering if this is going to last for a long time.

- My girl was told she will need braces.

- He told everyone how great the food is.

(This is what I think should be: He told everyone how great the food was.)
  

Top answer

You might find more than one tense in a single sentence, depending on the circumstances. 1. This is okay.

— Anonymous

  • You might find more than one tense in a single sentence, depending on the circumstances.
  • 1.
  • This is okay.
  • (") 2.
  • This is similar to 1.
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5 Answers
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You might find more than one tense in a single sentence, depending on the circumstances.

1. This is okay. Suppose that last month this person said: "Increasing taxation is not the solution." So when you report this today, you say: "(Last month) He said(:) (")increasing taxation is (not "was") not the solution.(")

2. This is similar to 1. Some time in the past this perso
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Hi there. I understand that when something is in quotes, it should be exactly as it is. But the sentences that I posted above are not in quotes. They are more like reported speech. The sentences are what I heard when people like this. Are the sentences spoken correctly? Can I speak, starting off with a past tense and follows by the use of present tense thereafter? Please advise me. Please correctl
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Yes, you can use more than one tense in a single sentence. For example, in your posting you say: "The sentences are what I heard..." Here you use the present and the past in the same sentence.
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I understand when I use a present tense in the beginning of a sentence followed by the use of a past tense in the rest of the sentence just like when I said above: "The sentences are what I heard...". What I don't understand is the other way around when people (I heard it from a news presenter) say, starting off with a past tense and then follows by with the use of present tense in a sentence, for
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"He said increase in taxation was not the solution." This means that there has been an increase in taxation and it has not solved the problem, or, depending on the context, that there has been an increase in taxation and the problem has been solved, but the solution was not because of the increase in taxation.

"He said increase in taxation is not the solution." This means that there has
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