Usage: "Were these letters written by Berry? Yes, they are."

**Michael7** · 26-Dec-2009, 09:15

Can anyone confirm that this sentence is incorrect and why? Or, is it correct?

Were these letters written by Berry? Yes, they are.

It seems to me that "were" and "are" simply don't match in tense, but the teacher of my young friend in Japan is asserting it is correct.

Thanks for your help ;-)

**bhaisahab** · 26-Dec-2009, 09:43

Originally Posted by Michael7

Can anyone confirm that this sentence is incorrect and why? Or, is it correct?

It seems to me that "were" and "are" simply don't match in tense, but the teacher of my young friend in Japan is asserting it is correct.

Thanks for your help

It is wrong, for the very reason that you have given, it should be "Yes they were".

**Michael7** · 26-Dec-2009, 20:24

Thank you very much. This site is a great resource for people studying ESL (and others as well).

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