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DavidS Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

Present and Past Tense of the Verb "To Be"

0I am not quite certain of when to use the past tense and when to use the present tense of the verb "to be":02br
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00A. This cathedral was built in 1970.02br
00B. This cathedral is built in 1970.02br
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00Should one decide which tense to use based on the tense of the paragraph in which this sentence is found?02br
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00If the paragraph is in past tense, should sentence A be used instead of B, despite the fact that the property of being bulit in 1970 still holds true for the cathedral?02br
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00In addition, if a sentence is isolated, which tense would be preferred in the following example?02br
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00The man you met at the station was my father.02br
00The man you met at the station is my father.02br
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00I have heard both versions being used by different native speakers.02br
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00Finally, I understand that the verb in relative clauses of reported speech should be backshifted to agree with the reporting verb (if the reporting verb is in past tense):02br
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00He said that he enjoyed listening to music.02br
00%He said that he enjoys listening to music. (Colloquial)02br
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00Would one ever backshift the reporting verb to agree with the reported verb that is in present tense?02br
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00He insists that he enjoyed listening to music. => He insisted that he enjoyed listening to music.02br
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00Here I am considering the case in which his enjoyment of music takes place in the past and that he does not enjoy listening to music any more.0-
  

Top answer

02i 00 (it's still true; he is still your father at the time of speaking) 0-

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  • 02i 00 (it's still true; he is still your father at the time of speaking) 0-
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8 Answers
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0 01i00This cathedral was built in 1970 02i01font00(is correct one)02font01i02br
00They built this cathedral in 1970.02i02br
01font00was,were + past participle corresponds to past simple02font02br
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01font01i0
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0 «A. This cathedral was built in 1970.02br
00B. This cathedral is built in 1970.»02br
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00Only A is correct. That's because "built" is not an adjective but a verb. Thus, saying B means the action of building is still happening.02br
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00«[1] The man you met at the station was my father.02br
00[2] The man you met at the station
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Ant_22212cite10«A. This cathedral was built in 1970. B. This cathedral is built in 1970.» Only A is correct. That's because "built" is not an adjective but a verb. Thus, saying B means the action of building is still happening. «[1] The man you met at the station was my father. [2] The man you met at the station is my father.» I'
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0 «Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.»02br
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00Thanks, I'll try to!02br
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001. You didn't understand what I meant by bracketing tha last clause:02br
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00"He insisted that he had enjoined listening to music (but then he had suddenly become deaf)"02br
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00Not that it was my comment or a possible interpre
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0I must say that your answers are different from what I have expected.02br
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00As far as I know, the definition of backshifting is as follows:02br
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00If the 01i00reporting verb02i00 is in past tense, then the 01i00reported verb02i00 is backshifted to past tense.02br
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00"I like mus
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0If it is never correct to say "The cathedral is built in 1970", then is it never correct to say sentences like the following?02br
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00You can say 'is' when it is an adjective, but you have to say 'was' when it is a verb. That is because a description (adjective) is still applicable now whereas an action (verb) only happened in the past-in this context of course02br
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0 «If the reporting verb is in past tense, then the reported verb is backshifted to past tense.»02br
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00Personally I don't like definitions like this and consider them as hindering from real understanding. Anyway, I'd correct it as follows: «... then the reported verb is shifted one tense back».02br
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00«They claim that "John insists that he enjoyed
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0 «You can say 'is' when it is an adjective, but you have to say 'was' when it is a verb.»02br
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00One may ask how they can determine whether it's a verb or an adjectove. I'd like to provide my view on it.02br
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001. The chair was broken yesterday.02br
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00Here "yesterday" is related to "broken". Only actiones can have time. Ac
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