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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Please correct this sentence..

My daughter wrote this sentence : Did you see that the boy ate his lunch? - Is this sentence correct or not? If yes, then why and if not why? Please provide explanation because we have a long argument on this sentence.

will appreciate your inputs if you can send me the answer on my email.

thanks

Jagvir Gehlaut - Email Removed">Email Removed
  

Top answer

In the right context, it is correct. Did you observe evidence that the boy ate? Perhaps he hasn't been eating lately and people are worried about him.

— BarbaraPA

  • In the right context, it is correct.
  • Did you observe evidence that the boy ate?
  • Perhaps he hasn't been eating lately and people are worried about him.
  • Today he ate his lunch.
  • You see his empty lunchbox and the wrappers around his seat.
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7 Answers
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In the right context, it is correct.

Did you observe evidence that the boy ate?

Perhaps he hasn't been eating lately and people are worried about him. Today he ate his lunch. You see his empty lunchbox and the wrappers around his seat. "Did you see that the boy at his lunch? That's a good sign. "
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Hi,

It seems like an ordinary sentence. It might be more efficient if you just tell us why you think it may be wrong.

Clive
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Hi Clive

thanks for your response. Actually this sentence was written by my daughter and her teacher marked it incorrect. To me this is perfectly OK but I was unsure about the use of verb 'ate' - should it be 'eat' or 'ate'? That was the only question mark in this sentence.

I will appreciate your response in this regard.

thanks once again

Jagvir Gehlaut
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Dear Grammer Geek

thanks for your response. Actually this sentence has been marked as wrong by my daughter's teacher because of the use of verb 'ate', if you can explain the reason that in Past Indefinite tense we use first form of verb after 'Did' but then use second form of the verb in the same sentence. I would appreciate your response.

thanks a lot once again

Jagvir
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Hi,

The sentence is fine.

Did you observe evidence that the boy ate?

The blue part forms a question, and therefore uses the inverted question word format.

'Did' is an auxiliary verb. 'Observe' is the base form of the verb.

Consider these examples.
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AnonymousDid you see that the boy ate his lunch?
The presence or absence of "that" makes a difference. Both of these are right. They have different meanings.

Did you see that the boy ate his lunch?

Did you see the boy eat his lunch?

There is also

Did you see to it that the boy ate his lunch?

i
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Dear CJ

thank you very much for your clarification. This was best response and explanation.

Jagvir Gehlaut
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