The sentence can be influenced by the tense of the subordinate.

Can you please give an example of a pair of sentences where a change in the tense of the subordinate requires a corresponding change in the tense of the main verb?

When parsed, it is clear you're right.

Spot the grammatical error in the above sentence.

Consider this:

I got up at 7am, and then, before I went to school, I ate a large breakfast.

Surely the "then" makes it impossible to use the past perfect ("had eaten") here? See what I mean about going by the context, rather than the tense of the subordinate verb?

So do you think the past simple is incorrect in my first example?

Before I went to school, I had eaten a big breakfast. But, here, the tense and aspect of the main clause is influenced by the subordinate... I don't think so. Consider the following: 1. I got up at 7am. Before I went to school, I ate a big breakfast. 2. I arrived at school at 8am. Before I went to ...

They cut my mobile phone off yesterday I sit bereft, and brood upon my loss At night I lie abed and turn and toss I cannot roam because I could not pay And sleep won't come to me so here I lay Beside my phone--a wireless albatross It lay stone dead inert but for green moss And yet I shrink from cast...

isn't there a slight difference between the a in fat and the a in bang --even among the non-drawling population? Not in (southern) England. We do lengthen the short 'a' slightly in some words, but 'bang' is not one of them. The 'a' is lengthened in bad, mad, ham, jam, exam, dam, damn, lamb, ram, dr...

They cut my mobile phone off yesterday I sit bereft, and brood upon my loss At night I lie abed and turn and toss I cannot roam because I could not pay And sleep won't come to me so here I lay Beside my phone--a wireless albatross It lay stone dead inert but for green moss And yet I shrink from cast...

Cellular Blues
They cut my mobile phone off yesterday;
I sit bereft, and brood upon my loss.

Which would you prefer? The past perfect or past simple in the main clause? It depends on the context of the main clause alone. Imagine that the sentence had read "He [had] refused to go immediately". Decide which tense would sound better there in the context of the passage as a whole, an...

He had refused to go, until he had seen all the pictures. The comma definitely suggests meaning (b). He saw all the pictures, then he agreed to go. (Whereas with meaning (a), he might have changed his mind and stayed.) I think the choice between the past perfect and past simple in the main clause m...

My question: If I were not to bother showing the sense of completion conveyed by the past perfect--as in sentence d (which isn't essential as shown in the examples above), is the following sentence grammatical? He had refused to go till he saw all the pictures. It is grammatical, but you need to be...

Having found me to be an alcoholic, she did not like me and so spurned my offer. But I would attempt to warm up to her. The "would" has the future-in-the-past meaning here. That is grammatically OK, although this use is normally found in subordinate rather than main clauses. Also, it coul...

Please clarify. Is the following category the place you would put implied conditional? Opinion or hope * I would imagine that they'll buy a new one. * I suppose some people would call it torture. * I would have to agree. * I would expect him to come. * Since you ask me I'd say the blue one is best....

Hi there - I have a new username (I was ACB in the old forum). I can think of the following uses of would : 1. Future in the past ( I knew what would happen ). 2. Past, indicating habit ( When I was young, I would often watch football on Saturdays ). 3. Past, indicating determination ( I tried to di...