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SuperESL Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Suggest

"Stalin's attitude towards the peasant suggests that he was at heart an agrarian romantic."

Should I use 'suggested' or 'suggests'? Is one necessarily preferable to the other? Often I just don't know how to grapple with this sort of grammatical choices.

Thank you.
  

Top answer

You asked a similar question here: The answer is similar. If the suggestion was given at the time, it's 'suggested'. If you are talking about a present suggestion, it's 'suggests'.

— Fivejedjon

  • You asked a similar question here: The answer is similar.
  • If the suggestion was given at the time, it's 'suggested'.
  • If you are talking about a present suggestion, it's 'suggests'.
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7 Answers
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You asked a similar question here:

The answer is similar. If the suggestion was given at the time, it's 'suggested'. If you are talking about a present suggestion, it's 'suggests'.
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The reason I am asking about this issue again is that I have never understood what you mean by 'if the suggestion was given at the time.' Do you mean if the sentence is in reported speech?

Thank you.
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"Stalin's attitude towards the peasant suggests (to people at the time) that he was at heart an agrarian romantic."

SuperESL:
"Stalin's attitude towards the peasant suggests
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SuperESL"Stalin's attitude towards the peasant suggests that he was at heart an agrarian romantic."Should I use 'suggested' or 'suggests'? Is one necessarily preferable to the other? Often I just don't know how to grapple with this sort of grammatical choices. Thank you.
You normally use the present tense for such matter. It is called the literary present or t
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So I should use the past tense even though I the author am the person interpreting past events here? (i.e. I am interpreting 'Stalin's attitude towards the peasant' as suggesting that 'he was at heart an agrarian romantic.'

Thank you.
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SuperESL So I should use the past tense even though I the author am the person interpreting past events here? (i.e. I am interpreting 'Stalin's attitude towards the peasant' as suggesting that 'he was at heart an agrarian romantic.'Thank you.
You just have to use your own judgment each time. It is impossible for us to tell which tense to use without seeing the
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Yes, we did discuss this before. I remember. Emotion: smile Thank you.
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