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userr2684291
userr2684291
00:27
(:
SamBC
SamBC
00:47
@ColleenV I'm sure you're right, but couldn't explain why, either...
 
2 hours later…
Anonymous
02:55
Re: the recent meta post, I think it’s best not to lie to students even if they’ve been lied to in the past. It can hurt them in the long run if you don’t teach will as a modal auxiliary like might or could, for example.
Anonymous
And that’s what will is. Pretending it’s a tense doesn’t help anyone.
Anonymous
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=897
Anonymous
In some countries that’s what they learn to begin with, so telling them it’s something else because you think they might have already mislearned it will just confuse things.
Featured Questions
Featured Questions
06:38
0
Q: Which Tense is appropriate to tell Fact Telling in English Past or Simple Present tense?

user4084While introducing someone if I Use past tense sentence is it correct to say or not? a) I joined this company in the year 2005. Reason being I am asking this question is because this is fact which I am telling and to tell fact we use Present tense. So can we use present tense also? b) I ...

sentence-construction time
 
2 hours later…
SmokeDetector
SmokeDetector
08:48
[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in answer, pattern-matching website in answer, potentially bad keyword in answer (167): With whom/who VS who/whom with by Dream Deepika on ell.SE
Mary Star
Mary Star
09:16
Hello!!
We have to fill the gaps with the verbs in the parentheses using past continuous or past simple.

1. The school was full of students. Some of them .... (talk), others .... (play) basketball and others .... (sit) on the benches.

2. There were a lot of people at the party. Some .... (dance), others .... (eat) and others .... (talk) to each other.


I think that we have to use everywhere the past continuous, but I am not really sure. Could you please verify if this is correct?
 
1 hour later…
ColleenV
ColleenV
10:41
@MaryStar I would use talking, playing, sitting, dancing, eating, and talking. Usually you would want to make the parts of the list match.
So it’s a good thought that they would all be the same
Mary Star
Mary Star
@ColleenV Ah ok! Do we use here the past continuous because we are descibing what they were doing at a specific moment, and not in general? Or why?
 
1 hour later…
Featured Questions
Featured Questions
12:08
2
Q: Is it "go on a rampage" or "go on the rampage"?

Vishal GhulatiI read a headline in "The Hindu" which was: Pant goes on the Rampage as Capitals crush Mumbai We use article "the" before a noun which we've talked about or mentioned earlier or before a particular thing. But then on goggling this phrase I saw a lot of dictionaries (Cambridge dictionaries, ...

articles
userr2684291
userr2684291
@snailboat Yes, that's exactly what I was going to write as an answer there. People are, predictably, hewing to what they're comfortable with, which does a disservice to everyone and retards the inevitable transition.
 
3 hours later…
userr2684291
userr2684291
14:39
@MaryStar What's emphasized here, in my opinion, is that they were in the middle of it.
That's why the continuous aspect is used to introduce a background.
Mary Star
Mary Star
Ahh ok!! @userr2684291

I have also an other one:

When he .... (live) in Paris, he often .... (go) to the opera.

Is it "was living" and "went" ?
userr2684291
userr2684291
Yep.
Mary Star
Mary Star
Thank you!!
userr2684291
userr2684291
But I think in this case you can say lived as well.
Mary Star
Mary Star
So both are correct? Or is it better to use "lived" ? @userr2684291
userr2684291
userr2684291
14:52
I think they're both correct. The continuous aspect emphasizes the temporariness of the action.
userr2684291
userr2684291
15:42
youtube.com/watch?v=GYK-NfOo7b4 One of the few times I've heard concrete jungle actually used. (:
 
3 hours later…
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
18:55
Good night all
 
4 hours later…
Mary Star
Mary Star
23:08
Ahh ok!! At the following:

He .... (plan) to go on holidays but he didn't make it.

do we use the past continuous, i.e "was planning" ? Or is the present simple correct in this case?
userr2684291
userr2684291
23:33
@MaryStar You do realize you can just ask these on the main site? :) Just make sure to explain why your dilemma persists, i.e. why both options seem okay to you or why only one seems correct.

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