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sentence structure

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Hi, can someone please tell me why the word "change" in the sentence "i hated to see it change" a noun? Also, do the tenses in the sentence have to agree with each other? If so, why does the sentence “ As you might imagine, this did not make the judges the happiest people I’ve ever seen” not follow tense agreement? The underline verbs represent two different tenses. Under what condition can we use different tenses in the same sentence?
 

MrPedantic

Key Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2005
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Other
Native Language
English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
Hello Unreg,

1. I hate to see it change.

— I would call "change" an infinitive, in that example.

2. As you might imagine, this did not make the judges the happiest people I’ve ever seen.

— "might" is a modal verb: it expresses a possible "imagining" of the addressee, at the moment of speaking.

"Did not make" is a past tense: the event described occurred in the past.

"I've ever seen" is a present perfect: it expresses a continuum of "seeing happy people" in the speaker's lifetime, up to the moment of speaking.

All the best,

MrP
 

ichiro_canada

New member
Joined
Feb 13, 2008
Member Type
Student or Learner
what would the sentence mean if "have" were changed to "had"? Also, if change is an infinitive, what is "to see"?
 
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