englishhobby
Key Member
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2009
- Member Type
- English Teacher
- Native Language
- Russian
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- Russian Federation
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- Russian Federation
If a person hasn't ever been married, we can just say so "He/She has never been married". That's quite clear. But sometimes people (not very kind ones) emphasise the fact that the type of man/woman they are talking about will never get married because, for example, they are confirmed bachelors or "old maids". In this case it's not enough just to say "He/She has never been married".
Can one say "Sheila (has) never got married (she is "alive", at present, but she hasn't been married and obviously will never get married)?.
If you no what I mean...
I need this because I'm grading my students' works and one of them wrote a story about a man who had a holiday romance. The story is in the past, but in the first and last paragraphs the student uses the present tense. At the end of the story the student wrote:
<...> But he never got married anymore. Since last week Tom’s been on holiday. At his leisure he watches TV and eats pop-corn, his only recreations are drinking beer and watching football, sometimes he just idles. And he suspects he’s getting bored.
I don't know if the use of the past simple is correct in the sentece in bold.
Can one say "Sheila (has) never got married (she is "alive", at present, but she hasn't been married and obviously will never get married)?.
If you no what I mean...
I need this because I'm grading my students' works and one of them wrote a story about a man who had a holiday romance. The story is in the past, but in the first and last paragraphs the student uses the present tense. At the end of the story the student wrote:
<...> But he never got married anymore. Since last week Tom’s been on holiday. At his leisure he watches TV and eats pop-corn, his only recreations are drinking beer and watching football, sometimes he just idles. And he suspects he’s getting bored.
I don't know if the use of the past simple is correct in the sentece in bold.
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