A different use of present indefinite tense

Status
Not open for further replies.

sumon.

Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2011
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Bengali; Bangla
Home Country
Bangladesh
Current Location
Bangladesh
Hi.
We can use present indefinite tense instead of past indefinite or present perfect for past actions when the speaker's answer or question is next to the listener's, but we normally use past indefinite tense. It can depend on motives. My question is what is the difference between the two uses? Do we have to be careful to use tenses that way?

Thanks to 5jj for his great explanation of this kind of use of tense in this post :https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/166231-sentence-grammartical-correct.html

Thank you all....
 
Last edited:
Hi.
We can use present indefinite tense instead of past indefinite or present perfect when the speaker's answer or question is next to the listener's, but we normally use past indefinite tense. It can depend on motives. My question is what is the difference between the two uses? Do we have to be careful to use tenses that way?

Thanks to 5jj for his great explanation of this kind of use of tense in this post :https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/166231-sentence-grammartical-correct.html

Thank you all....
Could you post some examples showing what you mean please.
 
You ask for giving some examples, because I could not give any example but surprisingly that has become an example.:-D
 
Last edited:
You ask for giving some examples, because I could not give any example but surprisingly that has become an example.:-D

"You ask for giving some examples"
That doesn't work for me.
 
"You ask for [STRIKE]giving[/STRIKE] some examples"
That doesn't work for me.
It does for me.

It works just as it is, but I'll put in in more explicit context:

I have your last post on the screen now, , and I note that you ask for some examples.

This reads very naturally to me.
 
It does for me.

It works just as it is, but I'll put in in more explicit context:

I have your last post on the screen now, , and I note that you ask for some examples.

This reads very naturally to me.

Of course "You ask for some examples" is fine. "You ask for giving some examples" is not.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Ask a Teacher

If you have a question about the English language and would like to ask one of our many English teachers and language experts, please click the button below to let us know:

(Requires Registration)
Back
Top