[Grammar] ... we wanted to confirm that more PS5 inventory will be coming to retailers ...

[kadioguy]

(In the PlayStation official twitter)

We want to thank gamers everywhere for making the PS5 launch our biggest console launch ever. Demand for PS5 is unprecedented, so we wanted to confirm that more PS5 inventory will be coming to retailers before the end of the year - please stay in touch with your local retailers.
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Why is the 'want' in the past tense? Why not just use it in the present tense?

I assume it means:

The official wanted to do it before and either they may now still want to do so, or they no longer want to. In this case the former makes sense.

What do you think?

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[PeterCW]

I think that the writer just make a mistake.

 

[GoesStation]

It looks natural to me. We often use the past tense in this kind of announcement.

 

[kadioguy]

[...] We often use the past tense in this kind of announcement.

But what does that mean? Why not just the present tense? What do you think about my thoughts in post #1?

 

[GoesStation]

But what does that mean? Why not just the present tense? What do you think about my thoughts in post #1?

Is it not obvious that the person still wants to express the thought?

 

[kadioguy]

Is it not obvious that the person still wants to express the thought?

But why do they use the past tense? What effect does the tense have?

 

[emsr2d2]

In sentences like that, you'll hear native speakers use both the present and past simple tenses, with no particular reason for either. Someone might pop their head round the door of a shop and say "Hiya! I just want to ask if you stock bread" or "Hiya! I just wanted to ask if you stock bread." There is absolutely no difference in meaning or intention behind them.

 

[GoesStation]

But why do[STRIKE]es[/STRIKE] they use the past tense? What effect[STRIKE]s[/STRIKE] does the tense have?

To my ear, it softens and distances the statement a little.

 

[kadioguy]

[...] so we wanted to confirm that more PS5 inventory will be coming to retailers before the end of the year - please stay in touch with your local retailers.

This is a use of the past tense intended to distance the message from the more direct present tense. It is often used as a tentative request : I wondered if you had a moment to spare.

It has been referred to as the preterite for polite distance (Berge), preterite of modesty (Kruisinga), the attitudinal past.(Quirk et al).

However, in this case who is requested politely? The PS5 manufacturers?

 

[GoesStation]

However, in this case who is requested politely? The PS5 manufacturers?

The sentence ends "… please stay in touch with your local retailers." Can it be addressed to the retailers?

 

[emsr2d2]

It's fine. It's clear that the post is suggesting that gamers who are hoping to get the console stay in touch with their local retailers (of the console).