tense
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- Junior Lexiterian
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Sun Sep 18, 2005 10:45 am
tense
Hi all,
This is my first time to post. I am a Japanese student learning Enghlish.
Here's my question.
Are the following sentences both correct? If so, what is the difference between them?
(1) I decided to wait at the station until my wife came.
(2) I decided to wait at the station until my wife comes.
I appreciate it very much if you could give me some advice.
Thank you in advance.
This is my first time to post. I am a Japanese student learning Enghlish.
Here's my question.
Are the following sentences both correct? If so, what is the difference between them?
(1) I decided to wait at the station until my wife came.
(2) I decided to wait at the station until my wife comes.
I appreciate it very much if you could give me some advice.
Thank you in advance.
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- Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 1464
- Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:31 pm
- Location: Botucatu - SP Brazil
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- Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 1464
- Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:31 pm
- Location: Botucatu - SP Brazil
-
- Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 1464
- Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:31 pm
- Location: Botucatu - SP Brazil
-
- Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 1464
- Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:31 pm
- Location: Botucatu - SP Brazil
-
- Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 1464
- Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:31 pm
- Location: Botucatu - SP Brazil
-
- Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 1464
- Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:31 pm
- Location: Botucatu - SP Brazil
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- Junior Lexiterian
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Sun Sep 18, 2005 10:45 am
Thank you, guys
I think I got the picture. I was surprised to find Japanese-speaking people in here.
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- Lexiterian
- Posts: 137
- Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2005 8:22 pm
- Location: A place to cross the river Thames with your Oxen
- Contact:
Re: tense
Just in case it's not clear...Hi all,
This is my first time to post. I am a Japanese student learning Enghlish.
Here's my question.
Are the following sentences both correct? If so, what is the difference between them?
(1) I decided to wait at the station until my wife came.
(2) I decided to wait at the station until my wife comes.
I appreciate it very much if you could give me some advice.
Thank you in advance.
Came is past tense, and comes is present tense. The main verb of the sentence is decided, so the whole is past tense: the speaker has made the decision. However, the phrase beginning with until is an adverbial phrase attached to the sentence. If the verb in this phrase is in the past tense (came), then she has already come, and it appears that the speaker is recounting the event from a point of view after the fact (his wife did arrive, but he's speaking about his wait for her). If, on the other hand, the verb here is in the present tense (comes), the speaker does not necessarily know whether his wife will arrive or not. He appears to speaking at a time after making his decision to wait, but before her arrival.
Just to complicate things further, it is possible to use the present tense here even if speaking after the event (her arrival). This is called the historic present, and is used (particularly in fiction and story-telling) to make the story more vivid. The historic present makes the hearer/reader feel that they are there in the moment.
I hope that helps.
-- Garzo.
"Poetry is that which gets lost in translation" — Robert Frost
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- Junior Lexiterian
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Sun Sep 18, 2005 10:45 am
Thanks Garzo,
Thank you very much for your explanation, which did help me a lot.
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- Great Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 2578
- Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:56 pm
- Location: Crownsville, MD
Re: Thank you, guys
Even worse for some of us: they're Japanese-writing people! The French and Latin I can figure out with a dictionary . . .I think I got the picture. I was surprised to find Japanese-speaking people in here.
But just to confuse you, that first sentence could also be written:
Welcome, Ink Ribbon. Stay around a while!Even worse for some of us: there're Japanese-writing people!
Regards//Larry
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
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"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
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