spoken grammar

[sebayanpendam]

Hi,

Is it grammatically fine if i use different tenses when saying something?

for example,

"Is this the bed that you were telling me before?"

A: "That was the bed, right?" (when in actuality the bed is still around at the time of speaking.)
B: Yup. That is the bed.

Thanks

 

[tedtmc]

Yes, it is fine to have different tenses in a sentence.

"Is this the bed that you were telling me about before?"

not a teacher

 

[Rover_KE]

Well said, Ted.

'I'm pleased to say you gave the right answer.'

Rover

 

[elhithebest]

Hi,

Is it grammatically fine if i use different tenses when saying something?

for example,

"Is this the bed that you were telling me before?"

A: "That was the bed, right?" (when in actuality the bed is still around at the time of speaking.)
B: Yup. That is the bed.

Thanks

Sorry can anybody explain to me why the use of past continuos is ok in the sentence?

If you say before shouldn´t it be told instead?

And if you use this in the question, then the answer should be this instead of that?
Please let me know if I´m wrong
Thanks

 

[Heterological]

Sorry can anybody explain to me why the use of past continuos is ok in the sentence?

If you say before shouldn´t it be told instead?

There is no rule against using the past continuous with "before." It would be correct to say "...the bed you told me about before" but it is also correct as-is.

And if you use this in the question, then the answer should be this instead of that?
Please let me know if I´m wrong
Thanks

This always frustrates me. English grammar books make it seem as though the rules governing the use of "this" and "that" are very clear-cut, when in fact, the terms are often interchangeable. You can only use "this" to talk about something immediate or present, but you can use "that" for the same things, or for things that are distant in time or space.

 

[elhithebest]

There is no rule against using the past continuous with "before." It would be correct to say "...the bed you told me about before" but it is also correct as-is.

This always frustrates me. English grammar books make it seem as though the rules governing the use of "this" and "that" are very clear-cut, when in fact, the terms are often interchangeable. You can only use "this" to talk about something immediate or present, but you can use "that" for the same things, or for things that are distant in time or space.

Thank you very much Heterological, yes that´s the problem when you are not a native and learn it by books, even you can find differences between books of different authors.
The thing is that we learn RP in the teaching courses, and of course the eEnglish language goes beyond that. As any language I gess, the same thing happens with Spanish, the one learnt from Spain is different ,in some aspects, from that of Argentina and other countries which speak Spanish. The same goes for any language, mainly the differences between the lang in books and the everyday lang., slangs, idioms, etc.

Thanks

 

[Heterological]

I sympathize! I've been a student of Spanish for many years; I studied Castillian Spanish in school and learned Mexican Spanish from my peers (I grew up in Southern California) and I still have a hard time understanding spoken Argentinian Spanish!

 

[elhithebest]

I sympathize! I've been a student of Spanish for many years; I studied Castillian Spanish in school and learned Mexican Spanish from my peers (I grew up in Southern California) and I still have a hard time understanding spoken Argentinian Spanish!

I´d love to help you with that if you want, so if you have any questions send me a message so I´ll answer.
Best wishes