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Clee62 Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

present tense or past tense?

Hi,

I always wonder if it is okay to say," I heard life expectancy of man are increasing." is it acceptable to use the present tense inside past tense clause"? or it is only acceptable to say," i heard that life expectancy of man were increasing?"

thanks
  

Top answer

" is it acceptable to use the present tense inside past tense clause"? " I t's fine, if what you heard is still true today. But 'life expectancy' takes a singular verb.

— Clive

  • " is it acceptable to use the present tense inside past tense clause"?
  • " I t's fine, if what you heard is still true today.
  • But 'life expectancy' takes a singular verb.
  • And we normally use the plural, 'men', if you mean men as opposed to women.
  • Say eg I heard the life expectancy of men is increasing.
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1 Answers
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Hi,

I always wonder if it is okay to say," I heard life expectancy of man are increasing." is it acceptable to use the present tense inside past tense clause"? or it is only acceptable to say," i heard that life expectancy of man were increasing?"

It's fine, if what you heard is still true today.

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