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Jackson6612 Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

When I wrote the above sentence I knew there is something...

1b00Sentence #1:02b00 You is a good person.02br
02br
01font01u00When I wrote the above sentence I knew there 01b01font00was02font02b00 something wrong with it.02u02font02br
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01font00I believe the underlined sentence above is correct as it is written. If I have written the above sentence as: 01b00When I wrote the above sentence I knew there01u01font00 is02font02u00 something wrong with it02b00, then it would have been considered wrong by you. To you, it is wrong, but to me it is perfectly correct. Using 01i00was02i00 makes the sentence nonsense. As you know, Sentence #1 is still written in a wrong way. It 01b01u00IS02u02b00 still wrong. You cannot say it 01b01u00WAS02u02b00 wrong. I hope you would understand my point. Sometimes rule of concordance of tenses is a certain sentence makes the sentence look stupid.02font0-
  

Top answer

0Your logic is hyperactive, Jackson. The clause that worries you no longer refers to the sentence typed above it, but to the sentence as it existed then. 01i 00I was hungry a moment ago, and I am still hungry now02i 00...

— Mister Micawber

  • 0Your logic is hyperactive, Jackson.
  • The clause that worries you no longer refers to the sentence typed above it, but to the sentence as it existed then.
  • 01i 00I was hungry a moment ago, and I am still hungry now02i 00...
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9 Answers
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0Your logic is hyperactive, Jackson. The clause that worries you no longer refers to the sentence typed above it, but to the sentence as it existed then. 01i00I was hungry a moment ago, and I am still hungry now02i00... and it is not really 'now' because I have left my computer and gone to dinner.0-
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0 Hi Jackson,02br
00the reason is that usually you can use either a past or present tense when reporting something that happened:02br
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01b00Jackson told me he wants to learn English.02br
00Jackson told me he wanted to learn English.02br
02b02br
00But with some verbs (for example "know" and "think"), present tenses
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0 01font00The reason it is wrong to use the present tense is that you loose concordance with the principal verb.02br
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00I 01font01b00knew02b02font00 there 01b01font00was02font02b00 something wrong with it.02br
02b
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Mister Micawber12cite10Your logic is hyperactive, Jackson. The clause that worries you no longer refers to the sentence typed above it, but to the sentence as it existed then. 11i10I was hungry a moment ago, and I am still hungry now12i10... and it is not really 'now' because I have left my computer and g
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0 1. You're talking about the past. You're talking about "when you wrote the sentence", not "when you write the sentence". 02br
00 2. Also, read Kooyeen's remarks again about the verbs "know" and "think". "knew it was" and "thought it was" should come to mind as automatic combinations once you become more familiar with them.02br
02br
00 These two princi
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0Which of the following sentences is correct in the context of given thread?02br
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01font01b001:02b00 When I wrote the above sentence I knew there was something wrong with it.02font02br
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01font01b002:02b00 When I wrote the above sentence I knew there
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01cite10Kooyeen12cite11b10Oh! So you are from Boston! 11font11u10I knew you were American12u12font10, but I thought you were from California.12br
10Jackson knew I was trying to help him.12br
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10Hi,12br
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0 Hi Jackson02br
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00Read CJ's post again, too.02br
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00If you say "I knew you are American", it will simply sound like you don't know how to say the sentence correctly.0-
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