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Thread: tenses: does not bark/is not barking

  1. #1
    navi tasan is offline Senior Member
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    Default tenses: does not bark/is not barking

    Which is correct:

    1-When my wife comes home from work, my dog always barks. But she just walked in and I do not know why it is not barking.

    2-When my wife comes home from work, my dog always barks. But she just walked in and I do not know why it does not bark.

  2. #2
    billmcd is offline Key Member
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    Default Re: tenses: does not bark/is not barking

    Quote Originally Posted by navi tasan View Post
    Which is correct:

    1-When my wife comes home from work, my dog always barks. But she just walked in and I do not know why it is not barking.

    2-When my wife comes home from work, my dog always barks. But she just walked in and I do not know why it does not bark.
    #1, because the non-barking is occurring at the moment of speaking
    navi tasan and Bennevis like this.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: tenses: does not bark/is not barking

    As a side note, most Americans would expect you to use "he" or "she" for your pet dog, not "it."
    I'm not a teacher, but I write for a living. Please don't ask me about 2nd conditionals, but I'm a safe bet for what reads well in (American) English.

  4. #4
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    Default Re: tenses: does not bark/is not barking

    Quote Originally Posted by navi tasan View Post
    But she just walked in
    Not a teacher-

    Maybe it works either way but "she has just walked in" sounds better to me
    bhaisahab likes this.

  5. #5
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    5jj
    5jj is offline Moderator
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    Default Re: tenses: does not bark/is not barking

    Quote Originally Posted by rainous View Post
    Maybe it works either way but "she has just walked in" sounds better to me
    It does to me, but I am a speaker of BrE. I am sure that 'she just walked in' is fine in AmE - and you'll hear it from speakers off BrE.
    navi tasan likes this.
    Context is always important; labelling is rarely important.


  6. #6
    Tdol is offline Editor, UsingEnglish.com
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    Default Re: tenses: does not bark/is not barking

    Quote Originally Posted by Barb_D View Post
    As a side note, most Americans would expect you to use "he" or "she" for your pet dog, not "it."
    We would do the same.

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