Honest Tense...

[2ndchance]

Okay, this may seem a silly question to many, but I have explained I have a real problem with past tense, (something evidently to do with my dyslexia makes me think in present). So with that in mind I would appreciate your views.

She walked and considered. > Past tense yes.

Walking she was considering. > Present ?

She is walking and considering. Present, easy.

She walked, considering. > Don’t know. I my head I have set past tense with walked so therefore considering must be past; however, I suspect it is a mix of tense...

Now this one baffles me. As she walked, she was considering. > It sounds past to me but again I suspect.

Help.

Steve > mountains to climb, balls to be kicked, fish to be caught, oh yeah and a book to right...

 

[BookStop]

She walked, considering. > Don’t know. I my head I have set past tense with walked so therefore considering must be past; however, I suspect it is a mix of tense...

Now this one baffles me. As she walked, she was considering. > It sounds past to me but again I suspect.

These are basically the same; in the first one, you've just omitted the 'and was', instead putting in a comma, which is perfectly acceptable; in the second one, you've substituted a comma for 'and' again and further added 'she', but are still saying the exact same thing. There is probably an exact word that covers this kind of past tense, but I don't know it. I just know that I use it all the time snd no one has ever complained.

 

[The Judge]

I'm not an expert on tenses, but I'll have a go.

She walked and considered. > Past tense yes. Yes.

Walking she was considering. > Present ? No. This is the past tense. But it's very ugly, so avoid it anyway! An alternative would be 'Walking, she considered...' [note the comma].

She is walking and considering. Present, easy. Yes. Also 'She walks and considers' is present tense.

She walked, considering. > Don’t know. I my head I have set past tense with walked so therefore considering must be past; however, I suspect it is a mix of tense... Yes, this is the past tense.

Now this one baffles me. As she walked, she was considering. > It sounds past to me but again I suspect. Again, you are right, this is past tense.

I think it's the '-ing' ending which is confusing you. It is called the present participle (as opposed to the past participle which is '-ed') but it is also used to create a feeling of continuous action in the past tense -- and in the future tense come to that eg 'This time next week, I will be walking in the mountains'.

The important thing to look for is 'was' instead of 'is' and '-ed' on the associated verbs. So if you start a sentence with 'Looking around, she...' we can't be sure if this is past or present or even future, and we have to wait for the follow up:
'Looking around, she caught the waiter's eye' = past (the 'caught');
or 'Looking around, she smiles at the waiter' = present ('smiles');
or 'Looking around, she will feel glad to have come to the bar for a drink' = future ('will feel').

That help?

J

PS. Not a bloke, but happy to be a pal.

 

[Ursa major]

The simple answer (promise ) is that it is the past tense if it is describing something that happened in the past, and the present tense if it's describing something happening now.

So far, so what, you might ask.

The second simple thing to do is get access to a copy of the Oxford Everyday Grammar and look up what it says on tenses and 'tenses'.

In the meantime, try this:

There are three event times (Past, Present and Future) and four aspects (Simple, Continuous, Perfect and Perect Continuous) as follows:

I wrote (Past Simple)
I was writing (Past Continuous)
I had written (Past Perfect)
I had been writing (Past Perfect Continous)

I write (Present Simple)
I am writing (Present Continuous)
I have written (Present Perfect)**
I have been writing (Present Perfect Continuous)

I will write (Future Simple)
I will be writing (Future Continuous)
I will have written (Future Perfect)
I will have been writing (Future Perfect Continuous)

As you can see, the persent participle ("writing") can be used in the past, present or future and so other parts of the verb (is, was, as, had, will, will be) are needed to indicate which one of them it is.


As for your more complex sentences, the tense is that of the main clause, so that in

As she walked, she was considering

is obviously in the past tense because at the precise moment that she was doing the considering, she walked.


** - If this confuses you, you're not alone: what this is indicating that in the current time frame (the present) the action has been "completed". So you'd say to your teacher (a likely story) "I have wriiten my essay", indicating that it is ready now. Yesterday (or on the bus this morning), you were writing the essay.

 

[dustinzgirl]

is obviously in the past tense because at the precise moment that she was doing the considering, she walked.

Now that is something that has always confused me.

Running, she stopped.
She stopped running.

 

[Ursa major]

Running, she stopped

confuses me as well, and not only because of the issue of tenses.

Unless it's:

Running, she stopped being a doormat. "When I'm the President, I'll call the shots. Caribou beware...!"

 

[BookStop]

This is really actually helpful, your post up yonder there, Ursa. Nice to see it spelled out. I don't thinkI usually get confused about what is what and so forth just hte what it is called is confusing to me, but I'm starting to see...

 

[Ursa major]

This is really actually helpful, your post up yonder there, Ursa. Nice to see it spelled out. I don't thinkI usually get confused about what is what and so forth just hte what it is called is confusing to me, but I'm starting to see...

Thanks, but your thanks should really go to John Seely, the author of my copy of the Oxford Everyday Grammar.

 

[The Judge]

I echo Bookstop's comments, Ursa; a post which is a model of clarity and immensely helpful to us all. Like Bookstop, I more or less knew it, but didn't know the correct names for each aspect, nor could I have expressed it so well. So thanks for that.

How about putting a version of it onto The Toolbox, so we know where to refer people should this ever come up again?

J

 

[Ursa major]

That would be a good idea, TJ; I've already posted something similar on the Chrons once or twice before. (One of them may have even included the Passive variants, some of which are a wonder to behold....)


Sadly, such an entry in the The Toolbox will have to wait until tomorrow at the earliest, as I have to log out now.

 

[BookStop]

Thanks, but your thanks should really go to John Seely, the author of my copy of the Oxford Everyday Grammar.

Oh, i will, next time I see him wandering about

 

[2ndchance]

People,

Fantastic, my mind rests easy (present). However when I get around to using it some day soon (future). I edited and reflected back on what was written in this thread(past).

I luv you lot (present) and its in the post )never( oh yeah and I payed my tax (past) but I am sure you will check again soon (future?)

It is pleasing to know I was not tha far off. My brain wasn't kidding me.

Steve

 

[Toby Frost]

This gives me horrible flashbacks to learning Latin grammar!

 

[2ndchance]

So let’ see.

Make a statement to the time frame. She/he, Walked – Talked – Considered – Wavered. These tell us they are in the past.

Then follow it with their actions. Thinking etc...

As she walked through the wood, unusually she failed to notice the young fairies playing amongst the blooming crocus; instead, her thoughts were elsewhere considering the events of the morning.

Is this all past or have I got this wrong? I suspect the last bit from instead may be present and should be, she was elsewhere or her mind was elsewhere.

Steve – it’s blowing a gale, let’s put all the sails up and see how fast she will go.

 

[Toby Frost]

Overall this sentence is in the past, even though the fairies are described as "playing" (or more elaborately you could say "that were playing") in the crocus. This is because the main verbs of the sentence are in the past - "walked" and "failed". If it was:

"As she walks through the wood, unusually she fails to notice the young fairies playing..."

it would be in the present. Reading this sentence, I would assume that everything in it has taken place in the past because the main verbs "walked" and "failed" are in the past.

Re the second paragraph of your post, I believe the last bit from "instead" could be any of these depending what you wanted to say. "Her thoughts were elsewhere", "she was elsewhere" and "her mind was elsewhere" are all in the same tense: the "was doing something" tense. (I have a vague feeling this may be called the pluperfect tense but I'm not sure).

 

[The Judge]

Have another look at Ursa's guide, Steve, and take it slowly.

As she walked past simple through the wood, unusually [no need to italicise; 'unusually' is an adverb, not a tense] she failed past simple to notice the young fairies playing past continuous amongst the blooming not a tense, but the participle used as an adjective crocuses; instead, her thoughts were past elsewhere considering past continuous the events of the morning.

Is this all past yes or have I got this wrong? I suspect the last bit from instead may be present no and should be, she was elsewhere or her mind was elsewhere.though these might be preferable

You have forgotten what we said about the -ing ending -- if it is used in conjunction with verbs clearly in the past tense, it is itself magically transformed into the past tense also, in its case, the past continuous. When you looked at the sub-clause from 'instead' you forgot the 'were' which relates to the 'considering'. (Thought personally I wouldn't say that 'thoughts' consider.)

J

 

[2ndchance]

So, my intention is to stay in past.

Does this mean I can't change the variations of past tence in one sentence, for example past simple followed by past continuous and so on?

She walked through the wood, unusually she failed to notice the young fairies playing among the blooming crocus; instead her mind was elsewhere as she reflected on the events of the morning.

All past simple, yes?

Is this how it should be, or could I put in a past continuous or two?

Or does the semi colon mean I can change to past continuous?

Steve

 

[Ursa major]

You can mix aspects in one sentence:

Steve was walking towards the post office when he saw a man lying in the street who, given the blood pouring from him, had obviously been shot.

Steve was walking (Past Continuous)

he saw a man (Past Simple)

lying in the street (this is in the past, because the main part of the sentence is, and is continuous)

the blood pouring (this is in the past, because the main part of the sentence is, and is continuous)

had obviously been shot (Past Perfect, and passive, to boot)

 

[2ndchance]

Fanks Ursa,

Hey, how did you know about the POffice? I do work 4 RMail

Occasionally.

Seriously you make it so simple. Thank you so much.

Steve

 

[2ndchance]

Okay people, I have listened to all suggested and have hopefully learnt well. I have attempted to put this into action in my edited thread in critiques called ‘first time for everything.’

I don’t doubt this snippet may have become a tad boring for you guys but hopefully you will afford me another glimpse.

Thanks

Steve