Tenses

Question

I am confused with tenses.For example,all these sentences

1)Before I told/tell him the matter,he started to shout at me.Which is correct told or tell?

2)He already knows my problem before I told/tell him.Which is correct told or tell ?

3)He knew my name before I told/tell him.Which is correct?

For example,if after I know because after always followed by past tense because after indicates the event already past.Example,"After I saw the film,I was scared","After he spoke to me,I feel guilty".

Is the word before after the word(before) always followed by present tense?I really need someone to explain to me correctly and thoroughly.

Thanks.

YuQiLin · Accepted Answer

1) Look at the sentence's tense. You see that they used the word "started" implying that the sentence should be in past tense. Out of your two answer choices the answer "told" is in past tense. "Tell" is in present tense so that wouldn't make sense.

2) This sentence is not in past tense which you can tell by looking at the word "knows" implying its present tense and so you choose the present tense answer choice "tell."

3) This sentence is similar in meaning to the previous one however it is in past tense so you choose "told."

"After I saw the film,I was scared" is correct because the words' tenses match

,"After he spoke to me,I feel guilty". is incorrect because the tenses do not match

CalifJim · Answer

mastergarett1)Before I told~~/tell~~ him the matter,he started to shout at me.

2)He already knows my problem before I ~~told~~/tell him.

3)He knew my name before I told/~~tell~~ him.

Match the tenses as shown below. This covers 95% of the cases.

PRESENT or FUTURE or IMPERATIVE before PRESENT.

You see the lightning before you hear the thunder.
You will see the lightning before you hear the thunder.
Look both ways before you cross the street.

PAST before PAST.

We saw the lightning before we heard the thunder.
We looked both ways before we crossed the street.
________________

It's the same for after.

You hear the thunder after you see the lightning.
You will hear the thunder after you see the lightning.
Place the plates on the shelf after you wash them.
We heard the thunder after we saw the lightning.
She placed the plates on the shelf after she washed them.

Do not use the present perfect tense in the main clause if you have a before- or after-clause in the same sentence.

CJ

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