Sequence of tenses
I saw this quiz. We must put a suitable auxiliary verb in the parentheses.
"Why did he read loudly?"
"He read aloud so that we ( ) hear him."
The answer is "might."
However, doesn't "can" make sense in the following situation?
He is a team leader. He reads instructions to the team members every morning. A newcomer didn't know that. The newcomer asked an older member why he read aloud. The older member said, "He read aloud so that we can hear him."
Top answer
" "might" is an old-fashioned-sounding answer – to my ear, at any rate. The obvious answer in ordinary modern English is "could", or possibly "would". "can" does not match the tense of "read".
- " "might" is an old-fashioned-sounding answer – to my ear, at any rate.
- The obvious answer in ordinary modern English is "could", or possibly "would".
- "can" does not match the tense of "read".
- Compare "He reads loudly so that we can hear him" (talking about his usual or general behaviour).
- The switch from "loudly" to "aloud" does not make proper sense.
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Snappy"Why did he read loudly?"
"He read aloud so that we ( ) hear him."
The answer is "might."
"might" is an old-fashioned-sounding answer – to my ear, at any rate. The obvious answer in ordinary modern English is "could", or possibly "would". "can" does not match the tense of "read". Compare "He reads loudly so that we can hear him" (talking about
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