Questions on Tenses

Question

Below are a few questions i disgree with the teacher of my child, please give your guidance.

1. The mischievous boy (fought) with another boy in class in the last period.

(I think that "was fighting" could be an optional answer, but the teacher told my child that fought is the only acceptable answer)

2. Both the girls (stay/are staying) in that neighbourhood.

"are staying" is given as an alternative answer, but i beg to differ as i see no reason to emphasize the sentence. stay is also a stative verb)

3. The electrician told us that he (had repaired )the fan in ten minutes.

(i think would repair is a more suitable answer)

3.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

1. The mischievous boy (fought) with another boy in class in the last period.
(I think that "was fighting" could be an optional answer, but the teacher told my child that fought is the only acceptable answer)

I don't see anything grammatically wrong with the progressive.
But the progressive is most often used when there is another event (e.g. one which stopped the action):
The boys were fighting when the teacher intervened.

2. Both the girls (stay/are staying) in that neighbourhood.
"Are staying" is given as an alternative answer, but I beg to differ as I see no reason to emphasize the sentence. Stay is also a stative verb)

I don't see anything grammatically wrong with the progressive. Stay can mean "reside." e.g. Martha is staying with us for a few days. It is not a matter of emphasis.

3. The electrician told us that he (had repaired )the fan in ten minutes.
(I think would repair is a more suitable answer)

I agree with the teacher: Had repaired the fan in 10 minutes means that it took him 10 minutes to complete the job. Would repair the fan in 10 minutes is ambiguous. - Is he giving a time when he will start working on it, or an estimate of how long it will take to repair?
Would is used as a intention in the future:
He said that he would repair the fan.
Or in a conditional:
He would repair the fan quickly if he had the proper parts on hand.

Avangi · Answer

Hi,
Not knowing exactly what instructions were given to the students, it's hard to be fair. But I can give you my opinion based on what you've said.

1. The mischievous boy (fought) with another boy in class in the last period.

(I think that "was fighting" could be an optional answer, but the teacher told my child that fought is the only acceptable answer) Both answers are correct, grammatically, idiomatically, and logically.

2. Both the girls (stay/are staying) in that neighbourhood.

"are staying" is given as an alternative answer, but i beg to differ as i see no reason to emphasize the sentence. stay is also a stative verb) Again, both answers are correct. I don't feel that the progressive tense emphasizes the sentence in any way. I agree with your observation that the verb is stative, therefore making the continuous tense "unnecessary," but there's nothing wrong in using it. I believe it's quite natural to do so.

3. The electrician told us that he (had repaired )the fan in ten minutes.

(i think would repair is a more suitable answer) Your alternative would also be correct, based on the information we have; but I wouldn't consider it any more suitable.
We have no way of knowing whether he made the statement before or after performing the repair.
Do you happen to know what prompts were given for these sentences?
If the instructions were to use the verb "to repair" (or the base form) your answer might be more likely. I believe the simple past would be equally correct. (The past perfect is optional in these cases.)

Best wishes, - A.

Edit. I agree with A-

's assessment that "would repair" is ambiguous. Still, that wouldn't make it incorrect, or inappropriate.
"the electrician told us that etc." When he gave us this report, we would likely have been able to judge the progress of his work: (1) yet to begin; (2) just underway; (3) completed.

(Having been one, I can say that electricians occasionally lie.)

All we can do is report what he told us.

CalifJim · Answer

Awenceplease give your guidance

In all three cases, both the teacher's responses and your suggested alternatives are possible. The only thing that might change my opinion about this is seeing the original instructions given for the exercise. As Avangi says, without that we can't be sure.

CJ

Awence · Answer

For question no3, i beg to differ as it is very common for people to mean after 10 minutes when we say, i will meet you in 10 minutes. i think "in 10 minutes" can also mean after ten minutes (and within 10 minutes). So I do not see why "would repair" is forbidden in this context. It was like a narration in the past that informed about the following action of the electrician.

What do you think?

Avangi · Answer

I'm not sure who said that "would repair" is forbidden in this context. I hope it wasn't I.

I think I understand your point about "in."

I'll have it repaired in ten minutes.
(I'll have somebody begin repairing it in ten minutes.)
I'll have the power back on in ten minutes.
(I'll do whatever's necessary to assure that the power is restored ten minutes from now.)
I'm sure he'll die in ten minutes.
(After ten minutes, he will begin to die. It may take him a while.)

Your point about the stative verb made it clear that you understand these things.

I think "meet" would be taken as an event in "I'll meet you in ten minutes."

"I know I'll die in ten minutes" could be taken either way. Dying can be a process or an event.
Fixing something can be a bit of a grey area. "It will take me ten minutes to fix it."
(It will be ten minutes before I can get to it. It will only take me ten seconds to reset the circuit breaker. That's all that's wrong with it.)

Best wishes, - A.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

AwenceSo I do not see why "would repair" is forbidden in this context.

I don't think that anyone said it was "fobidden."
My comment was that "would repair" is ambiguous, as compared to "had repaired."
In the course of a conversation, if it were used, the meaning probably would be understood from context.

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