Tenses.

Question

Dear experts,Could please correct these uses of tenses?1. Betty is going (go) to Paris in a fashion show and will not be (not,be) back until next week. When I saw (see) her off at the airport this morning she was looking (look) forward to it very much. Although she went (go) there once as a very small girl she doesn't remember (not, remember ) it, and so in a sense this will be (be) the first time she will be (be) there.2.If only we had (have) a car ! Life would be (be) much more pleasant. Today, for instance, I like (like) to have driven into the country to see and hear the spring. Don't you think it's time you buy (buy) a car and (learn) learn to drive it ? It will be (be) nice to have a car if it is not (not, be) so expensive. The trouble is that I have to (have to) give up a lot of things I now were enjoying (enjoy).3. Denis has continually urged (urge, continually) me to lend him money for a business venture which he says will pay (pay) his creditors back handsomely. I always refuse (refuse, always) his request as politely as I can. He hasn't shown yet (not, yet, show) any talent for business and until he has (have) I will not lend (not, lend) him a penny.4. Mary will go (go) to the states on business in a few days. I am told that while she is (be) away, Betty's brother will keep (keep) an eye on her firm for her. He helped (help) Mary with her business before, and she trusted (trust) him implicitly. As long as she will not be (not, be) away for too long, it should be a satisfactory agreement.5. A: I have just heard (just, hear) that John is in Canada.B: Oh ! didn't you know you (not, know) ? he flew (fly) there at the beginning of the month.A: Have you heard (hear) from him? did he like (like) the life?B: Yes ! I got (get) a letter last week. He told (tell) me about his job, but he didn't say (not, say) whether he liked (like) the life or not. Perhaps it was (be) too soon to say. He has been (be) there only for three weeks.Thanks a lot. I appreciate you help.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Betty is going to Paris to be in a fashion show. She will be back next week. This morning when I saw her off at the airport, she was looking forward to a great time. Although she went there once as a little girl, her memory of the experience is vague so in that sense this is her first real trip.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

Fine

Clive

Fivejedjon · Answer

angel girl11. Betty is going (go) to Paris in a fashion show and will not be (not,be) back until next week. When I saw (see) her off at the airport this morning she was looking (look) forward to it very much. Although she went (go) there once as a very small girl she doesn't remember (not, remember ) it, and so in a sense this will be (be) the first time she will be (be) there.

Fine.

angel girl12.If only we had (have) a car ! Life would be (be) much more pleasant. Today, for instance, I like (like) to have driven into the country to see and hear the spring. Don't you think it's time you buy (buy) a car and (learn) learn to drive it ? It will be (be) nice to have a car if it is not (not, be) so expensive. The trouble is that I have to (have to) give up a lot of things I now were enjoying (enjoy).

I would like to have driven...
Don't you think it's time you bought a car and learnt to drive it?
It would be nice to have a car if it were not so expensive.
The trouble is that I have had to give up a lot of things I would enjoy now.

Terryxpress · Answer

Did an native speaker write these passages? There are some odd phrasings.
Check the tense here:
and so in a sense this will be (be) the first time she will be (be) there. and so in a sense this will be (be) the first time she will be (be) there.

Today, for instance, I like (like) to have driven into the country to see and hear the spring.

Don't you think it's time you buy (buy) a car and (learn) learn to drive it ? It will be (be) nice to have a car if it is not (not, be) so expensive. The trouble is that I have to (have to) give up a lot of things I now were enjoying (enjoy).

hasn't shown yet : should be 'hasn't yet shown'

Mary will go (go) to the states on business in a few days. I am told that while she is (be) away, Betty's brother will keep (keep) an eye on her firm for her. He helped (help) Mary with her business before, and she trusted (trust) him implicitly. As long as she will not be (not, be) away for too long, it should be a satisfactory agreement.

Oh ! didn't you know you (not, know) ? he flew (fly) there at the beginning of the month.
Should be:
Oh! Didn't you know? He flew there... Correct
A: Have you heard (hear) from him? did he like (like) the life?
.

Dimsumexpress · Answer

AnonymousBetty is going to Paris to be in a fashion show.

If she is not a model, then " to be in ..." may not be the intended meaning. She may be just interested in the fashions of upcoming season. Having said that, the original sentence should use " ~ ......for a fashion show " which, by the way, has no clear purpose of her visiting Paris. It could be that she will be on the catwalk or someone in the audience. I have to agree, the short passages did sound a bit unusual in the phrasing and construction.

CalifJim · Answer

1. Betty is going (go) to Paris in a fashion show and will not be (not,be) back until next week. When I saw (see) her off at the airport this morning she was looking (look) forward to it very much. Although she went (go) there once as a very small girl she doesn't remember (not, remember ) it, and so in a sense this is (be) the first time she will be (be) there.

2.If only we had (have) a car ! Life would be (be) much more pleasant. Today, for instance, I would like (like) to have driven into the country to see and hear the spring. Don't you think it's time you buy (buy) a car and (learn) learn to drive it ? It would be (be) nice to have a car if it weren't (not, be) so expensive. The trouble is that I would have to (have to) give up a lot of things I now enjoy (enjoy).

(Many grammarians state a preference for I would have liked to drive over I would like to have driven, but you'll see all kinds of variants of this pattern.)

Also: time you bought ... and learned/learnt.

3. Denis has continually urged (urge, continually) me to lend him money for a business venture which he says will pay (pay) his creditors back handsomely. I always refuse (refuse, always) his request as politely as I can. He hasn't yet shown (not, yet, show) any talent for business and until he has (have) I will not lend/am not lending (not, lend) him a penny.

4. Mary is going (go) to the states on business in a few days. I am told that while she is (be) away, Betty's brother will be keeping / is going to be keeping (keep) an eye on her firm for her. He (has) helped (help) Mary with her business before, and she trusted (trust) him implicitly. As long as she will not be/isn't (not, be) away for too long, it should be a satisfactory agreement.

5. A: I (have) just heard (just, hear) that John is in Canada.
B: Oh ! didn't you know you (not, know) ? He flew (fly) there at the beginning of the month.
A: Have you heard (hear) from him? Does he like (like) the life?
B: Yes ! I got (get) a letter last week. He told (tell) me about his job, but he didn't say (not, say) whether he liked (like) the life or not. Perhaps it was/is (be) too soon to say. He has been (be) there only for three weeks.

(like the life is not idiomatic.)

CJ

Angel girl1 · Answer

Thanks to all of you.

CalifJimIt would be (be) nice to have a car if it weren't (not, be) so expensive.

Could you please explain to me why the second conditional is used here?

"It will be (be) nice to have a car if it is not (not, be) so expensive" I used here "is not" because I think that this is not hypothetical or unreal that the car is expensive but a fact.

CalifJimToday, for instance, I would like (like) to have driven into the country to see and hear the spring.

Could please explain to why "would like " is used?

CalifJimThe trouble is that I would have to (have to) give up a lot of things I now enjoy (enjoy).

I didn't understand the tenses used in this sentence, could you please explain?

Notice: I noticed that you used the blue colour this time, because in my past posts you used the red colour. Does it mean that the corrections are option?

Thanks a lot.

CalifJim · Answer

If only we had (have) a car ! Life would be (be) much more pleasant. Today, for instance, I would like (like) to have driven into the country to see and hear the spring. Don't you think it's time you buy (buy) a car and (learn) learn to drive it ? It would be (be) nice to have a car if it weren't (not, be) so expensive. The trouble is that I would have to (have to) give up a lot of things I now enjoy (enjoy).

The whole passage is full of hypothetical results, so "would" is going to appear a lot, and almost everything is going to sound like a second conditional. It's as if the entire passage started with "If I/we had a car".

IF I (/WE) HAD A CAR, ..........(but I don't have a car, so this is a hypothetical situation)

... life would be more pleasant,
... I would be able to drive in the country
... it would be nice
but

... I would have to give up certain things

I think this answers most of your questions, but I'll address one of them separately below.

_____________________

angel girl1I think that this is not hypothetical or unreal that the car is expensive but a fact.

The clause relates to the car not being so expensive. I think you've got your positives and negatives reversed!

The real fact is "The car is so expensive (that I cannot buy it)".
The hypothetical condition is "The car is not so expensive (that I cannot buy it)".
So you're saying "IF the car were not so expensive", i.e., "IF the situation were the opposite of what it is in reality". You are imagining the unreal situation where the car is less expensive, and you can easily buy it. And you're saying that it would be nice if that unreal situation were real.

CJ

Fivejedjon · Answer

CalifJim2.If only we had (have) a car ! Life would be (be) much more pleasant. Today, for instance, I would like (like) to have driven into the country to see and hear the spring. Don't you think it's time you buy (buy) a car and (learn) learn to drive it ? It would be (be) nice to have a car if it weren't (not, be) so expensive. The trouble is that I would have to (have to) give up a lot of things I now enjoy (enjoy).

I'll just add a note on the two sentences in which I gave different answers from CJ.

Don't you think it's time you bought a car and learnt to drive it?
The past simple is more natural after :It's time (that) ..." in British English. In fact, the present simple is unnatural; I had not realised, until I read CJ's post, that it was natural in American English.

The trouble is that I have had to give up a lot of things I would enjoy now.

My version is just about possible, but CJ's version is far more likely. In my version, the speaker regrets having had to give up many things in the past which they wish they could enjoy now - hence the (unfulfillable) wish for a car now. CJ's version is much more straightforward - the wish to have a car cannot be fulfilled, because it would lead to giving up other enjoyable things.

Angel girl1 · Answer

fivejedjonI'll just add a note on the two sentences in which I gave different answers from CJ.

Thanks a lot for your explanations, they are were very helpful.

Tenses.

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