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MarvinTheMartian Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

Present or past simple?

0Hello everyone,02br
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00People (myself included) tend to use the present and past simple interchangeably in sentences such as the following:02br
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00"What is / was the last movie you watched?"02br
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00"The last movie I watched is / was 'Shane'."02br
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00I know this may be a silly question, but are both uses acceptable? Please elaborate.0-
  

Top answer

0Hi Marvin, Although you may intend to describe a general situation, your example seems quite special. You may have watched "Shane" in the simple past, but in terms of context it will continue in the simple present to be the last movie you watched, until you watch another. 0-

— Avangi

  • 0Hi Marvin, Although you may intend to describe a general situation, your example seems quite special.
  • You may have watched "Shane" in the simple past, but in terms of context it will continue in the simple present to be the last movie you watched, until you watch another.
  • 0-
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4 Answers
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0Hi Marvin, Although you may intend to describe a general situation, your example seems quite special. You may have watched "Shane" in the simple past, but in terms of context it will continue in the simple present to be the last movie you watched, until you watch another. - A.0-
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0Thanks for your explanation, Avangi. I tried applying the same logic before posting the above message. Am I right in concluding that either tense can be used in my example?0-
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0 What were the names of the couple we met at the party last night? I seem to have forgotten- "00were the names00..." infers to last night when you met them, which is fine.02br
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00What are the names of the couple we met at the party last night? "What are the names" infers to their names in present form being that their names remained the same whether past, present
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0Hi Marvin,02br
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00In answer to your question about the movie, I have to say "yes," but I'd like to hear from others. It seems to me the majority of people in that situation would use the past.02br
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00I'm thinking of a question once posed to me by a language teacher, in a casual conversation during a quartet practice: "What 01i01u00
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