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Teleostomi Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

Why did Beatrix Potter choose the past tense?

The following is a quote from Beatrix Potter's The Pie and the Patty-Pan. I don't know why she chose to use the past tense in "I did not remember..." sentence. If the author were me, I would write "I don't remember that I have minced it up so fine."
Could you help me understand it?

Quote:

I think it would be wiser if I helped myself to pie...What very small fine pieces it has cooked into! I did not remember that I had minced it up so fine; I suppose this is a quicker oven than my own.
  

Top answer

She had forgotten that she had minced it up so fine, but, now that she can see it again, she has remembered that indeed she did. She's stating what her memory of what she had done was prior to her seeing the pie again. " Although that sentence implies she still doesn't recall having done so, even now that she sees the pie.

— GL2

  • She had forgotten that she had minced it up so fine, but, now that she can see it again, she has remembered that indeed she did.
  • She's stating what her memory of what she had done was prior to her seeing the pie again.
  • " Although that sentence implies she still doesn't recall having done so, even now that she sees the pie.
  • " There's present tense and past tense disagreement in that sentence.
  • There's probably a better explanation for why it doesn't work, but that's the best I can do.
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8 Answers
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She had forgotten that she had minced it up so fine, but, now that she can see it again, she has remembered that indeed she did. She's stating what her memory of what she had done was prior to her seeing the pie again.

BTW, she could also say it this way:

"I don't remember mincing it up so fine."

Although that sentence implies she still doesn't recall having done so, e
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Thanks for your answer!

But I don't think we need agreement of tense in the sentence "I don't remember that I have minced it up so fine." Are you sure?
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TeleostomiThe following is a quote from Beatrix Potter's The Pie and the Patty-Pan. I don't know why she chose to use the past tense in "I did not remember..." sentence. If the author were me, I would write "I don't remember that I have minced it up so fine."
Coul
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Danke vielmals Frau Yankees, but I'm afraid I still don't understand why she used "remembered" instead of "remember" in the sentence.

http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=554434is the whole context.
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I don't understand why she used remembered instead of remember either.
The story was written a long time ago, and the idiomatic usage of the verb remember might well have been different then.

CJ
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"If the author were me, I would write .."

No. You need:

If the author were me, she would have written ...

Or, much better:

If I were the author, I would have written ...

(By the way, were substitutes for had been in these.)

CJ
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TeleostomiDanke vielmals Frau Yankees, but I'm afraid I still don't understand why she used "remembered" instead of "remember" in the sentence.

http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=554434is the whole context.
Bitte. -- But I'm back in the US now.
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Caliph Jim, thank always for help, and correction! And an additional tip I hadn't ask forEmotion: wink (which is helpful!
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