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HanJH Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Usage of past tense
Hello,
You may find following paragraphs, Mark 1,40-42, in the Bible of Contemporary English Version.
A man with leprosy came to Jesus and knelt down. He begged, "You have the power to make me well, if only you wanted to."
Jesus felt sorry for the man. So he put his hand on him and said, "I want to! Now you are well." At once the man's leprosy disappeared, and he was well.
I don't know why the past tense 'wanted' is used in the first paragrph.
Is it an honorific expression such as 'Would you .... ' instead of 'Will you...' ?
Thank you in advance.
Han,
You may find following paragraphs, Mark 1,40-42, in the Bible of Contemporary English Version.
A man with leprosy came to Jesus and knelt down. He begged, "You have the power to make me well, if only you wanted to."
Jesus felt sorry for the man. So he put his hand on him and said, "I want to! Now you are well." At once the man's leprosy disappeared, and he was well.
I don't know why the past tense 'wanted' is used in the first paragrph.
Is it an honorific expression such as 'Would you .... ' instead of 'Will you...' ?
Thank you in advance.
Han,
Top answer
Hi Han That is a standard format for "if only". Basically, the word "wanted" is subjunctive. shtml
- Hi Han That is a standard format for "if only".
- Basically, the word "wanted" is subjunctive.
- shtml
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2 Answers
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Thank you so much, Yankee.
So, is 'if ONLY' followed by 'past simple' , and is 'if' followed by 'present simple', as following ?
40A man who was sick with leprosy [a bad skin disease] came to him. He kneeled down and begged Jesus saying, `I know you can heal me if you want to.'
41Jesus was very sorry for him. He put out
So, is 'if ONLY' followed by 'past simple' , and is 'if' followed by 'present simple', as following ?
40A man who was sick with leprosy [a bad skin disease] came to him. He kneeled down and begged Jesus saying, `I know you can heal me if you want to.'
41Jesus was very sorry for him. He put out
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