Question
Updated on
27 Nov 2022
- Korean
-
English (US)
Question about English (US)
Are these sentences grammatically correct and natural?
- "I figured he is a good man."
- "I thought the movie is interesting."
- "He told me his bro works for an Italian restaurant."
Are these sentences grammatically correct and natural?
- "I figured he is a good man."
- "I thought the movie is interesting."
- "He told me his bro works for an Italian restaurant."
- "I figured he is a good man."
- "I thought the movie is interesting."
- "He told me his bro works for an Italian restaurant."
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- English (US)
@hhoc2000
In the first two sentences you are combining tenses. “Figured” is past tense, but “is” is present tense. If you wanted the tenses to match, you could say one of these two things.
“I figured he was a good man.” OR
“I figure he is a good man.”
Similarly, you could change the second sentence to be:
“I thought the movie was interesting.” OR
“I think the movie is interesting.”
And for the last sentence, it’s mostly correct, but we would not normally use the word “bro” here but perhaps “friend” “brother (if you mean his actual sibling)” or “buddy”.
“He told me his friend works for an Italian restaurant.” OR
“He told me his brother works for an Italian restaurant.”
- Korean
Thank you
But aren't #1 and #2 also possible when talking about things continuing until the present?
Thank you
But aren't #1 and #2 also possible when talking about things continuing until the present?
But aren't #1 and #2 also possible when talking about things continuing until the present?
- English (US)
@hhoc2000 If they are continuing into the present, your actions would also be continuing into the present.
Which is why you would say:
“I figure he is a good man.” You are continuing to figure, because he is continuing to be a good man.
Similarly:
“I think the movie is interesting.” Because the movie isn’t over yet and it continues to be interesting.
- Korean
Um, then, why is #3 the only correct one other than #1 and #2?
- English (US)
@hhoc2000 I see what you mean. I don’t know the grammatical specifics because I’m not a grammar student, all I can tell you is that the phrasing of #3 sounds natural even though “told” is past tense and “works” is present tense.
Probably because he “told” you already, the act of telling is in the past, but the friend still “works” at the restaurant, that action is continuing to happen.
Sometimes English rules don’t make sense, and what sounds natural isn’t necessarily correct.
- Korean
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