SKILL 33
KNOW WHEN TO USE THE PAST WITH THE PRESENT
USING THE PAST WITH THE PRESENT
If you see one sentence with one verb in the past and one verb in the
present, the sentence is probably incorrect
It is possible to have a correct sentence having a past and present
verb together.
If you see a present and a past verb together, check the meaning
whether or not is a correct sentence.
As example, you can have the sentence ‘I knew that you are working
today’, in that case, it is not a correct sentence because you could not
know yesterday for sure that were going to be working this day because
something could have happened during this time, it would better to use
the same time like present and present ‘I know that you are working
today’ because is something you know for sure.
Examples of correct forms are:
- I know that she fell down yesterday.
- I realized he was going to pass the exam.
- Melissa wakes up early because she goes
to work every day.