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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Sentence check - help
When he comes home that night, he goes into the bedroom and there laid out on the bed is a Superman costume.
- Is it possible that he used laid which is in past even if the sentence is present?
When he comes home that night, he goes into the bedroom and there lays on the bed, a Superman costume.
Are they both right? I believe they used historical present here. This is a story but still in the present form which isnt clear to me.
- Is it possible that he used laid which is in past even if the sentence is present?
When he comes home that night, he goes into the bedroom and there lays on the bed, a Superman costume.
Are they both right? I believe they used historical present here. This is a story but still in the present form which isnt clear to me.
Top answer
I HAVE CAREFULLY THOUGHT ABOUT YOUR QUESTION BEFORE POSTING. " (a) When he comes home that night, he goes into the bedroom and there, laid out on the bed, is a Superman costume. and a Superman costume [has been] laid out there on the bed by someone.
- I HAVE CAREFULLY THOUGHT ABOUT YOUR QUESTION BEFORE POSTING.
- " (a) When he comes home that night, he goes into the bedroom and there, laid out on the bed, is a Superman costume.
- and a Superman costume [has been] laid out there on the bed by someone.
- That is: Someone has laid out a Superman costume there on the bed.
- As you can see, "laid" is the past participle that we use for the present perfect.
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4 Answers
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I HAVE CAREFULLY THOUGHT ABOUT YOUR QUESTION BEFORE POSTING.
(1) I think that "laid" in your first sentence is not the past tense of "lay."
(a) When he comes home that night, he goes into the bedroom
and there, laid out on the bed, is a Superman costume.
(i) I believe that this is a shorter way to say:
...and a Superman costume [has bee
(1) I think that "laid" in your first sentence is not the past tense of "lay."
(a) When he comes home that night, he goes into the bedroom
and there, laid out on the bed, is a Superman costume.
(i) I believe that this is a shorter way to say:
...and a Superman costume [has bee
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So the "laid" in the sentence is not in past?
Even if it is in the past, is it acceptable to use past even if the story is in the present as it denotes an action before what is currently happening?
Even if it is in the past, is it acceptable to use past even if the story is in the present as it denotes an action before what is currently happening?
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Some else had laid it out before he walked into the room.
Even if the story is in the present, there are still things the protagonist will encounter that were done in the past.
Even if the story is in the present, there are still things the protagonist will encounter that were done in the past.
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