Would you mind if I smoke/smoked?

[Tan Elaine]

Would you mind if I smoke/smoked?

Can either verb be used? If yes, what is the difference in meaning?

Thanks.

 

[Rover_KE]

Use either 'Would you mind if I smoked?' or 'Do you mind if I smoke?'

Rover

 

[anhnha]

If yes, what is the difference in meaning?

Could anyone answer this? I have learnt English for almost 1 year but I am still confused about these kinds of sentence.
1.Do you mind if I smoke?
In this sentence, is the present simple tense use beceause it show the state "mind or not?
2. Would you mind if I smoked?
Why we use the past tense here?
Did the action "smoking" occur before?

 

[Tdol]

In English, time and tense are not the same. We can use the past tense for many things and not just to indicate past time. We often use modals like would to show politeness- here the act of smoking has not occurred- the person is asking politely if it is OK to smoke.