Present tense and past tense in a sentence? correct or wrong

Question

Hi,Is it possible to combine past tense and present tense in a sentence?Suppose this sentence: It is also interesting to  know that before Warren Buffett acquires/acquired Berkshire Hathaway, he is/was a Hedge  fund manager when he started his partnership, Buffett Partnership Ltd, in 1956  even though the term hedge fund was coined in 1966.(Btw he acquire Berkshire Hathaway in the past at around 1960's)So is it acquires or acquired, is or was? (also explain why if possible) Thanks in Advance

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

Is it possible to combine past tense and present tense in a sentence?

Suppose this sentence:

It is also interesting to know that before Warren Buffett acquires/acquired Berkshire Hathaway, he is/was a Hedge fund manager when he started his partnership, Buffett Partnership Ltd, in 1956 even though the term hedge fund was coined in 1966.

(Btw he acquire Berkshire Hathaway in the past at around 1960's)

So is it acquires or acquired, is or was? (also explain why if possible)

If you are talking about the past, use past tense.

eg Before she cooked dinner, she turned on the stove.

eg Before Buffet acquired the company, he was a manager.

Best wishes, Clive

Anonymous · Answer

Thanks but there is a present tense in the sentence (is).

So by using present and past tense in the following sentence grammatically correct? (focus on the underlined part)

It is also interesting to know that before Warren Buffett acquired Berkshire Hathaway, he was a Hedge fund manager when he started his partnership, Buffett Partnership Ltd, in 1956 even though the term hedge fund was coined in 1966.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

So by using present and past tense in the following sentence grammatically correct? (focus on the underlined part) Sure, no problem at all. You are just saying that it's interesting to know about some past events.

A simpler example would be

It's interesting to know that before Tom moved to Chicago he lived in Cleveland.

It is also interesting to know that before Warren Buffett acquired Berkshire Hathaway, he was a Hedge fund manager when he started his partnership, Buffett Partnership Ltd, in 1956 even though the term hedge fund was coined in 1966.

These tenses are OK, but I don't feel your sentence is well structured. The 'before' clause and the 'when' clause don't fit together well. In my opinion, you are trying to cram too much into one sentence.

Best wishes, Clive

Present tense and past tense in a sentence? correct or wrong

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