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Usenet Posted 22 years ago
Usage
What tense to use? Help!
Hi all,
I have a very simple questions to ask.
In a past sentence where you are describing about something in the future, what tense do you use for the description?
Are there any specific rules to follow? Please advise. Thank you.
I have a few examples here:
SENTENCE 1:
I told him that I WAS going to buy the toothbrush tomorrow.
- Is it WAS or AM? the conversation took place yesterday but the toothbrush has not been bought.
SENTENCE 2:
I told him that I WAS going to buy the toothbrush two days later which "IS" tomorrow.
- Is it WAS or AM? the conversation took place yesterday but the toothbrush has not been bought.
- Is it "which is tomorrow" or "which was tomorrow"?
SENTENCE 3:
At the beginning of the course, I portrayed myself as a passive member in the team and learned as much as I could from other members who WERE experts in this field
- the course is still going on. I was talking about the past but the other members are still experts now. Do I use "WERE experts" or "ARE experts"?
Thank you again. Please advise.
Ian
I have a very simple questions to ask.
In a past sentence where you are describing about something in the future, what tense do you use for the description?
Are there any specific rules to follow? Please advise. Thank you.
I have a few examples here:
SENTENCE 1:
I told him that I WAS going to buy the toothbrush tomorrow.
- Is it WAS or AM? the conversation took place yesterday but the toothbrush has not been bought.
SENTENCE 2:
I told him that I WAS going to buy the toothbrush two days later which "IS" tomorrow.
- Is it WAS or AM? the conversation took place yesterday but the toothbrush has not been bought.
- Is it "which is tomorrow" or "which was tomorrow"?
SENTENCE 3:
At the beginning of the course, I portrayed myself as a passive member in the team and learned as much as I could from other members who WERE experts in this field
- the course is still going on. I was talking about the past but the other members are still experts now. Do I use "WERE experts" or "ARE experts"?
Thank you again. Please advise.
Ian
Top answer
[nq:1]I have a very simple questions to ask. In a past sentence where you are describing about something in the future, what tense do you use for the description? Are there any specific rules to follow?
- [nq:1]I have a very simple questions to ask.
- In a past sentence where you are describing about something in the future, what tense do you use for the description?
- Are there any specific rules to follow?
- Please advise.
- [/nq] I looked to see if the Grammar and Writing site has a page on "indirect speech".
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2 Answers
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[nq:1]I have a very simple questions to ask. In a past sentence where you are describing about something in the future, what tense do you use for the description? Are there any specific rules to follow? Please advise. Thank you.[/nq]
I looked to see if the Grammar and Writing site has a page on "indirect speech". It had a link to this, which may or may not be useful to you:
Noun Claus
I looked to see if the Grammar and Writing site has a page on "indirect speech". It had a link to this, which may or may not be useful to you:
Noun Claus
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[nq:1]Hi all, I have a very simple questions to ask. In a past sentence where you are describing about something ... the toothbrush tomorrow. - Is it WAS or AM? the conversation took place yesterday but thetoothbrush has not been bought.[/nq]
was or am. "was" for sure if there is now some doubt about the brush purchase.
[nq:1]SENTENCE 2: I told him that I WAS going to buy the toothbrush tw
was or am. "was" for sure if there is now some doubt about the brush purchase.
[nq:1]SENTENCE 2: I told him that I WAS going to buy the toothbrush tw
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