I'm asking the store clerk a question. She replies with we close in 20 minutes. The

[B45]

I'm asking the store clerk a question. She replies with "we close in 20 minutes." Then I say:

I thought this place stays open until midnight.

VS

I thought this place stayed open until midnight.

And

I thought this place closes at midnight.

VS

I thought this place closed at midnight.

And

I checked online and the website says this place is open until midnight.

Or

I checked online and the website says this place stays open until midnight.

Are all grammatically correct?

 

[B45]

Can someone please answer this before it falls off the page?

 

[Rover_KE]

They are all acceptable.

(Are you sure the time wasn't 11.40pm?)

 

[B45]

They are all acceptable.

(Are you sure the time wasn't 11.40pm?)

What do you mean by that?
(Are you sure the time wasn't 11.40pm?)

Also, isn't the very first one wrong?

I thought this place stays open until midnight. - stays should be stayed because it follows thought. No?

 

[MikeNewYork]

No. The thought was in the past. The current practice could be in the present.

 

[Rover_KE]

If the time was 11.40pm, the clerk would be right to say 'We close in 20 minutes'.

 

[B45]

No. The thought was in the past. The current practice could be in the present.

Yes, but she already said they would be closing at midnight, so shouldn't it be stayed instead of stays?

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

I would use the second alternative that you gave in each case. Stayed, closed, stays.

 

[emsr2d2]

Yes, but she already said they would be closing at midnight, so shouldn't it be stayed instead of stays?

When did she say it closed at midnight? You said you found that information online but that all she said to you was "We close in 20 minutes". Can you give us the actual dialogue please.

 

[B45]

I walk into the store and see the store clerk behind the counter and went up to her and said:

"I checked online and it says you guy close in half in hour is that true?"

She says, "We close in 20 minutes at midnight."

I say, "I thought online says you guys stayed/stays open later than that."

 

[bhaisahab]

I walked into the store and saw the store clerk behind the counter and went up to her and said:

"I checked online and it says you guy close in half in hour is that true?"

She says, "We close in 20 minutes at midnight."

I say, "I thought online says you guys stayed/stays open later than that."

You have changed the scenario.

 

[emsr2d2]

Now I'm more confused. If her answer is correct, then it is currently 11.40pm (she said they would shut at midnight, which is in 20 minutes). That means you went into the store at just before 11.40pm. You then suggest that the shop is due to close in half an hour. So you thought the shop shut at 00.10 (ten minutes past midnight). Admittedly, if you thought it shut at 00.10 and she told you it shuts at midnight, then you were right to think it stayed open longer but 00.10 seems like a very strange time for a store to close.

What time did you enter the store? What time did you ask her the question? What time does the website say the store closes?

 

[bhaisahab]

I think he is pulling our legs.

 

[emsr2d2]

Yup, me too now. It's nonsense.

 

[B45]

Now I'm more confused. If her answer is correct, then it is currently 11.40pm (she said they would shut at midnight, which is in 20 minutes). That means you went into the store at just before 11.40pm. You then suggest that the shop is due to close in half an hour. So you thought the shop shut at 00.10 (ten minutes past midnight). Admittedly, if you thought it shut at 00.10 and she told you it shuts at midnight, then you were right to think it stayed open longer but 00.10 seems like a very strange time for a store to close.

What time did you enter the store? What time did you ask her the question? What time does the website say the store closes?

I entered the store at 10:30PM and she said that they're closing in half an hour, so I asked:

Why does the your online homepage say that you guys are open until midnight. I thought you guys stayed/stay open until midnight.

 

[Rover_KE]

I entered the store at 10:30PM and she said that they're closing in half an hour, so I asked:

'Why does [STRIKE]the[/STRIKE] your online homepage say that you guys are open until midnight?'

'I thought you guys stayed/stay open until midnight.'...stayed' is better but 'stay' would be understood.

Rover

 

[B45]

But, she already said they closed before midnight, so wouldn't stayed be the only correct and grammatical way of saying it? Because they don't stay open until midnight.

 

[MikeNewYork]

But they DO stay open until midnight. "Stayed" refers to past habit. "Stay" refers to current practice.

 

[anhnha]

I entered the store at 10:30PM and she said that they're closing in half an hour, so I asked:

Why does the your online homepage say that you guys are open until midnight. I thought you guys stayed/stay open until midnight.

But they DO stay open until midnight. "Stayed" refers to past habit. "Stay" refers to current practice.

As from Batman's post, the store stays open until 11 o'clock. So, shouldn't only "stayed" be correct?