[Grammar] Is/was it good?

[kadioguy]

(Quoted from an English grammar book)

[A teacher asked a student]

Teacher: Have you eaten lunch?
Student: Yes, I have eaten lunch.
Teacher: What have you eaten?
Student: I've eaten a boxed lunch I bought.
Teacher: Is it good?
Student: It's not bad.
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1. I would use [A teacher asks a student].
2. I think the text in red should be "Was it good?" and "It was not bad", because that boxed lunch no longer exists.

What do you think?

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(Source)

 

[GoesStation]

I agree. What is the source? An image of the page doesn't tell us where it's from.

 

[kadioguy]

I agree. What is the source? An image of the page doesn't tell us where it's from.

Thank you, GoesStation.
It's from this book.

 

[Skrej]

I also find the continued use of the perfect tense rather unnatural. I'd expect them to switch to the simple past after the first question and answer. That would also fall in line with your (correct) assessment about using the simple past 'was'.

Teacher: Have you eaten lunch?
Student: Yes, I have eaten lunch.
Teacher: What did you eat?
Student: I ate a boxed lunch I bought.
Teacher: Was it good?
Student: It wasn't bad.


Edit: However, it looks like the lesson may be focusing on the present perfect, so that might explain the continued use.

 

[jutfrank]

Edit: However, it looks like the lesson may be focusing on the present perfect, so that might explain the continued use.

I'm not sure how you mean, Skrej. How might that be?

My opinion is this: That dialogue is terrible. It's both unnatural and plain wrong. And if it is attempting to show the use of the present perfect, it has failed spectacularly.

kadioguy—please don't use that book. I've got a feeling that it may turn out to be the source of dozens of your future posts querying its dubious examples and explanations. (I hope I'm wrong.)

What's the point behind the capitalisation, by the way?

 

[kadioguy]

My opinion is this: That dialogue is terrible. It's both unnatural and plain wrong. And if it is attempting to show the use of the present perfect, it has failed spectacularly.

kadioguy—please don't use that book. I've got a feeling that it may turn out to be the source of dozens of your future posts querying its dubious examples and explanations. (I hope I'm wrong.)

OK, I won't.

What's the point behind the capitalisation, by the way?

The writer is comparing the structure of English with that of Chinese. She or he tells us that generally speaking, a sentence in English must need subject, object and verb (those in capitals), whereas in Chinese it doesn't necessarily.

 

[kadioguy]

Edit: However, it looks like the lesson may be focusing on the present perfect, so that might explain the continued use.

I think the continued use of the present perfect is just because the writer translates those sentences from Chinese in a literal way.

 

[Skrej]

Could be. It was just a guess because some of the later examples were also in the present perfect. I was just giving the author the benefit of the doubt since I can't read Chinese.

 

[kadioguy]

It was just a guess because some of the later examples were also in the present perfect.

1. Could you tell me why you used "were" in the past tense? Is this because it follows "was", which is also in the past tense?

2. Does "are" (rather than "were") also work? (I would use "are", because text in a book looks something permanent to me.)

(Having added contents, I cross-posted with Skrej)

 

[Skrej]

1. Could you tell me why you used "were" in the past tense? Is this because it follows "was", which is also in the past tense? Yes.

2. Does "are" (rather than "were") also work? Yes.

I prefer to maintain tense consistency when possible.

 

[kadioguy]

It was just a guess because some of the later examples were also in the present perfect. I was just giving the author the benefit of the doubt since I can't read Chinese.

I prefer to maintain tense consistency when possible.

Could you tell me why in the second sentence you didn't maintain the tense consistency (i.e., use "couldn't"), whereas you did in the first one?

 

[GoesStation]

Could you tell me why in the second sentence you didn't maintain the tense consistency (i.e., use "couldn't"), whereas you did in the first one?

Skrej was stating a fact which was true both at the time of writing and in the time frame of the narrative. Using the past simple would only be natural if he had learned to read Chinese in the interim.

 

[kadioguy]

Skrej was stating a fact which was true both at the time of writing and in the time frame of the narrative. Using the past simple would only be natural if he had learned to read Chinese in the interim.

Yes, that's true, but please see Skrej's first sentence:

It was just a guess because some of the later examples were also in the present perfect.

This part "... some of the later examples were also in the present perfect" is also true both at the time of writing and in the time frame of the narrative; however, Skrej chose to use the past simple.

 

[Skrej]

I think you're trying to over-analyze my tense usage. :lol:

Don't try and read too much into why I used past vs. present in a situation where we've agreed both could have been used, as per earlier posts.


I happened to chose past tense.It was just a guess because some of the later examples were also in the present perfect.

However, I could have said the same thing in present tense. It is just a guess because some of the later examples are also in the present perfect.

I could even have chosen to mix them:
It was just a guess because some of the later examples are also in the present perfect It is just a guess because some of the later examples were also in the present perfect.

As I said earlier, once I pick a tense, I tend to try and keep using it if possible. However, there's no deep-rooted rationale as to why I picked one over the other to start.

Sometimes it depends on how you interpret the actions. In the case of my guess - is it a completed action (It was just a guess), or a statement of general fact (It is just a guess)? Both are equally valid interpretations allowing for use of either present or past. In such cases, it doesn't really matter which one you ultimately pick, and there's no guarantee I'm even consistent with my choices from context to context.

If you really want an answer as to why I chose past tense over present, then pin it on my Zodiac, or the alignment of the stars, or my horoscope, or my caffeine level, or my melatonin levels, etc. We can probably rule out alcohol, given the time of the day.