0
Anonymous Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
Verb tense after REALISE/UNDERSTOOD
Scenario: next year i am going to study medicine.
In my application i want to say when i discovered that this is the path i want to follow. So with the 2 verbs, understand and realise, how should the following sentences be conjugated:
.......it was at that point that i understood that i WANT/WANTED to be a doctor
........it was at that point i realised that i WANT/WANTED to be a doctor
The main thing is that in the past i realised it and it still holds true today. So should it be in the present?
In my application i want to say when i discovered that this is the path i want to follow. So with the 2 verbs, understand and realise, how should the following sentences be conjugated:
.......it was at that point that i understood that i WANT/WANTED to be a doctor
........it was at that point i realised that i WANT/WANTED to be a doctor
The main thing is that in the past i realised it and it still holds true today. So should it be in the present?
Top answer
it was at that point that I understood / realized that I wanted to be a doctor . At that point in the past, you had this revelation. It began then, and still is true, unless you say that you changed your mind.
- it was at that point that I understood / realized that I wanted to be a doctor .
- At that point in the past, you had this revelation.
- It began then, and still is true, unless you say that you changed your mind.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
5 Answers
0
.it was at that point that I understood / realized that I wanted to be a doctor.
At that point in the past, you had this revelation. It began then, and still is true, unless you say that you changed your mind.
At that point in the past, you had this revelation. It began then, and still is true, unless you say that you changed your mind.
00
Thank you for your response.
What if I say:
Last year I realised that I wanted to be a doctor
Is that correct? Something is telling me it should be WANT. Because if I change last year for yesterday it sounds like I am a confused little bunny.
What if I say:
Last year I realised that I wanted to be a doctor
Is that correct? Something is telling me it should be WANT. Because if I change last year for yesterday it sounds like I am a confused little bunny.
00
AnonymousLast year I realised that I wanted to be a doctorThat's fine.
You can also write:
I want to be a doctor. I realised that yesterday when I visited an emergency room for a minor injury and observed the dedicated physicians. Right then I knew that I wanted to be a doctor.
00
Anonymousit was at that point i realised that i WANT/WANTED to be a doctor'wanted'. In the context of a past realization, which took place in an instant, 'want' takes on the flavor of 'start to want', which it doesn't have in "I want to be a doctor". So whether you still want to be a doctor or not, you only 'started to want' ('wanted', in that sense) to be
00
Thank you guys very much. This has certainly cleared it up for me.
0
Related Questions