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Anonymous Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

tense

"The majority of shoplifters seem to be youngsters, middle-aged or even elderly people who, in a moment of confusion,
.................... (slip) something into their bags and ..................... (forget) to pay for it. Some stores are in fact doing their best to separate the real thieves from those who have no intention of stealing."

Please advise the correct form of tenses to be used based on the words in brackets. If students come up with the following answers, which is correct?

(a) slip, forget

(b) slipped, forgot

(c) would slip, would forget
  

Top answer

Hi, Well, I'd choose (a) because the paragraph is a statement of 'present facts', and a definition. However, if a student chose (b), I'd hesitate to say that was wrong. The thinking would be that 'he is now a shoplifter because this is what he did '.

— Clive

  • Hi, Well, I'd choose (a) because the paragraph is a statement of 'present facts', and a definition.
  • However, if a student chose (b), I'd hesitate to say that was wrong.
  • The thinking would be that 'he is now a shoplifter because this is what he did '.
  • Even (c) would do, but seems rather less common.
  • Best wishes, Clive
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2 Answers
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Hi,

Well, I'd choose (a) because the paragraph is a statement of 'present facts', and a definition.

However, if a student chose (b), I'd hesitate to say that was wrong. The thinking would be that 'he is now a shoplifter because this is what he did'.

Even (c) would do, but seems rather less common.

Best wi
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I see now that this question was already posted (and answered) in another thread (by Baggylot).

What happened, did a teacher assign this as homework to a class?

Clive
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