This is my first post on verb tenses which comprise another problematic area in the English language. This post is specifically on what I call the "double past." This question is an example: "What did she said?"
The question above commits the error of the double past because it uses both did and said. The reason for the mix-up is the seeming simplicity of the past tense rule: if it happened in the past, use the past tense. However, in this case, there are two verbs (did and said). It's seems natural to use the past tense for both because whatever happened did happen in the past.
The thing is, for a case like this, the verb is do (did) and say (said) is not a verb. Instead, say is a noun, a name for whatever the "she" in the sentence wanted to communicate.
No one likes someone with a double life. English doesn't like this case of the double past either. Have a nice evening!
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6 comments:
Thanks for clearing this up. I much appreciate this.
Filipinos have big problems about double past tenses.
your comment is racist, anyone who has no formal training in grammar rules would commit that mistake, and has nothing to do with nationality
What does nationality has to do with race? Actually is your comment that is racist. Making an observation based on knowledge about a country is not racism or nationalism, would you say the statement 'All britons speak english' is racist?
"What does nationality has to do with race? Actually is your comment that is racist. Making an observation based on knowledge about a country is not racism or nationalism, would you say the statement 'All britons speak english' is racist?"
Nope! The first comment was not racist per se. It was a stereotype, like "Chinese people are business savvy". Stereotypes are oversimplified generalizations of groups of people. Not all stereotypes are negative, but in any case, they are often harmful.
Not all Filipinos have problems with double past tenses, though I'm sure some do. I have personally encountered a lot. All Britons probably do speak English, though. So that's a fact, not a stereotype.
I hope you learned something today! :)
Is " I got Married" phrase is correct ... Got and Married both are past tense right
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