[Grammar] "Though the market may be falling"

[hsb]

Dear Teachers,

1) Could you please tell me if the following sentence is correct?

"Though the market may be falling, you can still make money with a good stock"

2) How can I change this sentence to the past and future tense?

Please help.

[David L.]

Plenty of folk here to do just that. But it helps people who respond to your post to see your tries at this, so we understand your level of English before replying.

So, what do you think the sentences would be?

[RonBee]

Try past tense first.

[hsb]

Hello David L,

I think it would be like this.

1)Past tense

"Though the market --?---was falling, you could have still made money with a good stock."

2)Future tense

"Though the market may--?--- fall, You will still be able to make money with a good stock."

Actually, I am confused with the past and future form of "concessive may"(I have recently asked about it in this forum) But I am finding it difficult to change it to Past/future tense.

Please help me.

[Anglika]

You can also use a simple past:

Although the market fell, you still made money with [a] good stock[holding].

[RonBee]

Originally Posted by hsb

Hello David L,

I think it would be like this.

1)Past tense

"Though the market --?---was falling, you could have still made money with a good stock."

2)Future tense

"Though the market may--?--- fall, You will still be able to make money with a good stock."

Actually, I am confused with the past and future form of "concessive may"(I have recently asked about it in this forum) But I am finding it difficult to change it to Past/future tense.

Please help me.

(The word "may" doesn't change tenses.)

[David L.]

"Though the market was falling, you could have still made money with a good stock."
or
"Though the market was falling, you could still have made money with a good stock."

This is excellent English, and is in the Past Continuous tense.

As Anglika, said, in Simple Past tense:

"Though the market fell, you could have....

"Though the market may fall, you will still be able to make money with a good stock."
Again, perfect.

So - can you tell us more about the uncertainty you feel?

[hsb]

Hello David L,

Thank you very much for replying.
I am sorry, but to understand all this I should have asked you first about the difference between "may be falling" and "is falling".I realize,I have unintentionally wasted your time.Please forgive me.I would be really grateful if you tell me the difference between these two.

[David L.]

the difference between "may be falling" and "is falling".

"is falling' is Present Continous tense. This is explained in a previous post called Use of Present Continuous (22nd June). You can search for this if you go to Search, click on advanced, and on the left, where it says, Key Words, you type in the words in blue. It is about 6-8 posts down the list.

Read that, so you are sure you understand what 'is falling' implies; then post on here again to say you have done that, and we can compare it with 'may be falling".

[hsb]

Hi David L.,

Thank you very much for your reply,Yes I have done that and understood it.

I kindly request you to please help me further.