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Seraphin Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

was/am wondering ... ???

Not sure how to phrase the question exactly, but I find that many people
tend to use "I was wondering ..." when they write this sentence, while in my mind,
they actually "are" wondering about something ... say,
I get a message that says
"Hey, xxx, I was wondering if you happen to know yyy"
I presume when that person wrote the sentence, he was actually "wondering" right
at that moment if I know yyy. So why then did he use "I was", rather than "I am" ?
Is it a mistake on his part or my misunderstanding of the timeline of the sentence ?

Thanks
  

Top answer

We can use either. In fact, I've heard "I was just wondering" [just= right now, not only, here]. Another example.

— Philip

  • We can use either.
  • In fact, I've heard "I was just wondering" [just= right now, not only, here].
  • Another example.
  • The phone rings, I answer it, and you are at the other end.
  • "I was just thinking about you".
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2 Answers
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We can use either. In fact, I've heard "I was just wondering" [just= right now, not only, here].
Another example. The phone rings, I answer it, and you are at the other end. "I was just thinking about you".
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I was wondering if (you ...) is a common formula of politeness. The time represented by the tense should not be taken seriously -- although, even so, some wondering probably occurred before the question was asked, so the use of the past is not entirely unreasonable.
Note also:
Can you stay a minute? I wanted to ask you something.
Did you know that Mr
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