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English 1b3 Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
The tense of would
"Having found me to be an alcoholic, she did not like me and so spurned my offer. But I would attempt to warm up to her."
1) Apparently this in bold is not simple past. I'm aware would in this sentence is being used to express a habitual/repetitive past action, but how come it is not simple past?
2) How do you determine the tense of the bold sentence?
"With "would", it is necessary to have an already established past time-frame."
3) What does this mean?
1) Apparently this in bold is not simple past. I'm aware would in this sentence is being used to express a habitual/repetitive past action, but how come it is not simple past?
2) How do you determine the tense of the bold sentence?
"With "would", it is necessary to have an already established past time-frame."
3) What does this mean?
Top answer
I don't think that it is necessarily a past habit at all-- there is not enough context to confirm that (especially since only one 'offer' had been spurned). It could simply be a past intention.
- I don't think that it is necessarily a past habit at all-- there is not enough context to confirm that (especially since only one 'offer' had been spurned).
- It could simply be a past intention.
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1 Answers
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I don't think that it is necessarily a past habit at all-- there is not enough context to confirm that (especially since only one 'offer' had been spurned). It could simply be a past intention.
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