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ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > Past Tense or Simple Present Tense?
Past Tense or Simple Present Tense?
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worldangel
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Past Tense or Simple Present Tense?
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I need help again with some grammar items...
Today I did a personal recount with my students. One of the students in each group will need to recount an experience he or she had while watching his/her favourite movie in a cinema. So I told them that the recount would need to be in past tense.
What happened was after they have finished retelling the experience they had, they had to answer some questions and that �s when the confusion started. I have these questions:
1) What is the event being recounted?
2) Why did your friend like the movie?
For the first question, most of them answered in this way:
The event being recounted is Lily watching a movie titled "Slumdog Millionaire" or
The event is Lily was watching a movie titled "Slumdog Millionaire".
For the second question, most of them answered in this format:
My friend liked the movie because it was very interesting.
I am a bit confused about the tenses that should be used in the answer now. Should the �is � in the first answer be �was � since we are talking about a past event? And should �liked � be changed to �likes � since it is talking about the person �s favourite movie? Or should it remain as past tense because we are talking about the reason why the person liked the movie at that particular moment when he was watching it?
Sorry for the long post but do appreciate some help with this. Thanks.
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13 Apr 2009
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seyda
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Hi;
The first one should be was instead of is because you talk about the past, you are not talking about now
The second one remains the same... |
13 Apr 2009
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MissMelissa12
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1) What is the event being recounted?
It is not a Paste tense, It is a present tense which is in passive voice. So the answer seems pretty correct to me.
The event being recounted is Lily watching a movie titled "Slumdog Millionaire" - seems fine to me.
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25 Apr 2009
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