[Grammar] Past tense + present continuous (or gerund)

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lesjaime

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Hi, may I know why sentence No.2 is the correct answer?

1) ...it was related to he commented that - (can't use past tense + past tense?
2).... it was related to he commenting that - (past tense + gerund?)


Thanks alot!
 

TheParser

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Hi, may I know why sentence No.2 is the correct answer?

1) ...it was related to he commented that - (can't use past tense + past tense?
2).... it was related to he commenting that - (past tense + gerund?)


Thanks alot!


***** A NON-TEACHER's COMMENT *****


(1) Until a teacher gives us the answer, may I start this

thread?

(2) I most respectfully submit that No. 2 is not correct,

either.

(a) I believe it should be:

It was related to him/his commenting on the problem.

(a) I believe that "he" is not correct.

(b) Your sentence is basically:

It was related to commenting on the problem.

You wish to identify the person who commented on the problem.

So you may say "him" or "his." Probably most people would

consider "his" the better choice. Whose commenting was it? It was

his commenting.

(c) As you know, "to" is a preposition. After a preposition, you

need a noun or gerund (-ing word used as a noun):

It is related to the commentary (noun).

It is related to the commenting (gerund).

It is not "good" English to say: "It is related to he commented."

(the past tense of "comment.")

For example:

His problem is related to weight problems. (noun)

His problem is related to him/his eating too much. (gerund)

BAD: His problem is related to he ate too much. (BUT: you

could say "His problem is related to the fact that he ate too much."

But you notice that in this sentence, there is a noun -- "fact" --

after the preposition "to.")

(3) I think that the basic idea is this:

After a preposition, you need a noun or gerund. In No. 1, you do

not have a noun or gerund; you have a past tense of a verb. (Regarding

the "he" in No. 2, I guess that is a minor point. It is probably better to

use either "him" or "his." If someone says or writes "he," that person

may think that s/he is speaking elegant English. It appears most books

would call "he" in that sentence "wrong" -- as far as modern English is

concerned.


Respectfully yours,


James
 

Raymott

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Hi, may I know why sentence No.2 is the correct answer?

1) ...it was related to he commented that - (can't use past tense + past tense?
2).... it was related to he commenting that - (past tense + gerund?)


Thanks alot!
Hi. This is impossible to answer. Neither phrase makes sense; neither is a sentence. And we don't know what the question is.
You will get much more useful answers about sentences if you give the full sentence. (Assuming the question to be, "Which 'sentence' is grammatically correct?" as it stands, neither is.)
 
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