Do we eat anymore?

[RonBee]

• "Words are never used in isolation. In organic use the meaning of a word is inevitably affected by its context, which includes at the very least the other words that surround it in a sentence or a paragraph or a lengthy discourse, and actually a great deal more."
  -------Louis B. Solomon, Professor of English at Brooklyn College
  http://www.answering-islam.org/Campbell/s1c1.html

:)

[shun]

Originally Posted by RonBee

• "Words are never used in isolation. In organic use the meaning of a word is inevitably affected by its context, which includes at the very least the other words that surround it in a sentence or a paragraph or a lengthy discourse, and actually a great deal more."
  -------Louis B. Solomon, Professor of English at Brooklyn College
  http://www.answering-islam.org/Campbell/s1c1.html

:)

We have heard enough from you how good is the context. But the details are only some quotations. Please explain how the context decides the three tenses. :?

[RonBee]

Context is neither good nor bad. It just is. It is what determines the meaning of a word or sentence. As for tense, it is how we say what we want to say.

:)

[Tdol]

The context will provide the necessary details to know what the speaker means by the statement. It could be declining an offer of food, but it could just as easily be a way of explaining a habit, etc. These would affect the choices made of tense.

[shun]

Originally Posted by tdol

The context will provide the necessary details to know what the speaker means by the statement. It could be declining an offer of food, but it could just as easily be a way of explaining a habit, etc. These would affect the choices made of tense.

Personally, I cannot get anything from your context, as there are no further examples for explanation. Somehow, however, I believe this vagueness is used temporarily to solve the difference of "I eat/have eaten/ate dinner".

Next time, you still prefer to say something like:

Originally Posted by Tdol

I ate yesterday- unchangeable historical fact.
I haven't eaten dinner yet- changeable.

:D

Anyway, thank you very much for the answer.

Shun Tang