Why do we use past tense with if?

uses the simple past tense, and the main clause uses would before the verb. If it is impossible that the action will occur because the opportunity has passed, the if-clause uses the past perfect tense, and the main clause uses the future perfect conditional tense: would have + past participle of the verb.

What tense do we use after as if?

Clauses that start with as if / as though describe an unreal or improbable situation if they are followed by an unreal tense (the past subjunctive or the past perfect subjunctive). Otherwise, they express that the statement is true.

Is it past tense after if?

In elementary English class, you may hear that you should always use past tense after ‘if. ‘ That is true in a limited context of simple conditional (example 2 above): If I had money, I would…., If I were a rich man.. , Loves medieval literature. You can use any tense (past present or future).

What is the difference between as if and as though?

They have a similar meaning. We use as if and as though to talk about an imaginary situation or a situation that may not be true but that is likely or possible. As if is more common than as though: The floods were rising and it was as if it was the end of the world.

Who’s car or whose car?

If you’re debating which one to use, substitute “who is” or “who has” in place of who’s/whose. If the sentence retains its meaning, the “who’s” is the correct form. If the sentence loses its meaning, then “whose” is the correct form.

Was a child or were a child?

The indicative form was is used in the when-clause, because the speaker actually was a child. The subjunctive form were is used in the if-clause, because the speaker was not a child when s/he uttered the words.

When to use present tense and when to use past tense?

Why in first example we use present tense after “when” and at the second example we use past tense after “as soon as” (which is the same expression as “when”)

How do you use the past perfect tense of “had”?

“I had already called Matt about the invoice when we received the cheque in the mail.” As this sentence shows, we write verbs in the past perfect tense by attaching “had” to the regular past tense version of the main verb (i.e., “called”). And when do we use the past perfect tense?

Is “didn’t” past or past tense?

The auxiliary word “didn’t” is used with an infinitive. It is already in the past tense (“did” is past tense of “to do”), so you may only add a main verb in the infinitive form (e.g., to go, to see, to arrive), which can sort of look like a present tense. You would not add a past tense following “didn’t.”

What are the two verb tenses?

And to do this, we’ll focus on just two verb tenses: past perfect tense and simple perfect tense (what you think of as regular past tense). Here’s an example of a sentence with a verb in past perfect tense (see underlined text):