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Anonymous Posted 19 years ago
Grammar
Please correct this
Hi,
Please correct these made-up questions. When you write this kind of questions, should we use all past tenses?
1) John went into a clothing store and bought two fancy shirts. A shirt had a price tag of $13 (Can we say, "A shirt costed $13"? Or can we say, "A shirt costs $13"??) . He went up to the cashier and handed him two twenty dollar bills. How much was he supposed to get back?
2) Sam was very hungry after school, and on the way to his home, he went into a hamburger shop near (nearby??) his house and ordered a hamburger combination. The menu board showed the price of $4.50 and he knew he had to pay 6 percent sales tax. He handed the clerk a ten-dollar bill. How much should be (have been??) his change?
Please correct these made-up questions. When you write this kind of questions, should we use all past tenses?
1) John went into a clothing store and bought two fancy shirts. A shirt had a price tag of $13 (Can we say, "A shirt costed $13"? Or can we say, "A shirt costs $13"??) . He went up to the cashier and handed him two twenty dollar bills. How much was he supposed to get back?
2) Sam was very hungry after school, and on the way to his home, he went into a hamburger shop near (nearby??) his house and ordered a hamburger combination. The menu board showed the price of $4.50 and he knew he had to pay 6 percent sales tax. He handed the clerk a ten-dollar bill. How much should be (have been??) his change?
Top answer
Please correct these made-up questions. When you write this kind of questions, should we use all past tenses? -- Generally yes, but as you can see, for instance, the price of a shirt remains unchanged to the present, so present is also possible here.
- Please correct these made-up questions.
- When you write this kind of questions, should we use all past tenses?
- -- Generally yes, but as you can see, for instance, the price of a shirt remains unchanged to the present, so present is also possible here.
- Actually, I would recast all of them in the narrative present, like this: 1) John goes into a clothing store and buys two fancy shirts.
- -- No: 'cost / cost / cost'.
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3 Answers
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Please correct these made-up questions. When you write this kind of questions, should we use all past tenses? -- Generally yes, but as you can see, for instance, the price of a shirt remains unchanged to the present, so present is also possible here. Actually, I would recast all of them in the narrative present, like this:
1) John goes into a clothing store and buys
1) John goes into a clothing store and buys
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Thank you, Mr. M. Let us pretend that I am going to write a question using all past tenses. Did I use correct tenses? I thinkJohn bought the combo that day and that day is certainly before the day of the person's writing this question (Is that a good-enough rationale for using the past perfect? Can you lay out a better context for me to see better?).
John was hungry and went into a hamb
John was hungry and went into a hamb
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Your original tenses are fine (but the other corrections stand).
Past perfect is used only when there are TWO past events which do not happen at the same past time. Furthermore, the sequence of the two past events must be otherwise unclear (that is, without using past perfect) and/or the writer must have some reason to specifically emphasize the order of events. Without these conditions
Past perfect is used only when there are TWO past events which do not happen at the same past time. Furthermore, the sequence of the two past events must be otherwise unclear (that is, without using past perfect) and/or the writer must have some reason to specifically emphasize the order of events. Without these conditions
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