Sequence of Tenses Исполнитель

Sequence of Tenses

Part 1. Sequence of tenses in complex sentences

     The term “sequence of tenses”, i.e. the agreement of tenses, refers to the choice of the verb tense in the subordinate clause depending on the tense of the verb in the main clause. The rule of the sequence of tenses means that the tense in the subordinate clause is determined by the tense in the main clause and should agree with it both logically and grammatically.

     Generally, in complex sentences with all types of subordinate clauses, except the object clause, the sequence of the tenses in the pair “verb in the main clause - verb in the subordinate clause” is logical and based on sense and general rules of the use of tenses. The verb in the subordinate clause may be in any tense that reflects the actual time of the action and conveys the meaning correctly in the pair with the verb in the main clause, for example:       

She goes for a walk in the park when the weather is good.    

She went for a walk in the park when the weather was good.

She has been teaching since she graduated from college.      

I went to bed early because I was very tired.       

He didn’t answer your questions because he doesn’t speak English.

While I was watching TV, the telephone rang.    

By the time he returned, I had typed ten pages of the report. 

The books that I bought yesterday are on my desk.      

The surgeon who is going to perform the operation arrived yesterday.     

The surgeon who was going to perform the operation fell ill yesterday.   

Yesterday the patient felt better than he feels today.      

     According to the rules of the use of tenses, the Simple Present is used instead of the Simple Future in the adverbial clauses of time and condition referring to the future, for example: 

He will ask her about it when he sees her tomorrow.    

She will visit them tomorrow if she has the time. 

Part 2. Sequence of tenses in sentences with object clauses

     Object subordinate clauses answer the question “what?” and stand in the place of an object after such verbs as “know, think, believe, understand, wonder, agree, say, tell, ask, answer, remark” and phrases like “I’m sure (that), I’m afraid (that)”. Object clauses are connected to the main clause by the conjunction “that” which is often omitted, and by other subordinating conjunctions, for example: if, whether, what, who(m), where, when, why, how.

Present or future in the main clause

    If the verb in the main clause is in the present or future tense, the verb in the object subordinate clause may be in any tense that conveys the meaning correctly according to sense, logic and general rules of the use of tenses, for example:     

I think (that) he lives on Rose Street.

I don’t know if she is in town.

I see that she is writing a report.      

I’m not sure that he will help us.      

I wonder whether she will buy this house. 

I know that John has already left for Chicago.   

I know where she went. 

I have heard that Mr. Smith is going to be our new director. 

He will understand that you want to help him.   

I will ask him why he didn’t buy that book.        

Past tense in the main clause

     If the verb in the main clause is in the past tense, the verb in the object subordinate clause should be also used in one of the past tenses. The examples below show how the sentences given above will change if we use the past tense in the main clause:       

I thought (that) he lived on Rose Street.    

I didn’t know if she was in town.     

I saw that she was writing a report. 

I wasn’t sure that he would help us.

I wondered whether she would buy that house.  

I knew that John had already left for Chicago.   

I knew where she had gone.   

I heard that Mr. Smith was going to be our new director.     

He understood later that you wanted to help him.        

I asked him why he hadn’t bought that book.     

     This rule of the sequence of tenses in the main and subordinate clauses when the past tense is used in the main clause may seem illogical or incorrect to us, because the tense in object subordinate clauses doesn’t always show the actual time of the action. In Russian object clauses, we are free to use any tense that conveys the meaning correctly, that is, the present, the future or the past tense, but we have to use one of the past tenses in the corresponding cases in English object clauses.       

Exception from the rule

     If a general truth is expressed in the object subordinate clause, the present tense is normally used in the subordinate clause despite the fact that the past tense is used in the main clause, for example:    

Newton discovered that the force of gravity pulls all bodies to the Earth. 

Galileo proved that the Earth revolves around the Sun.        

     Compare the above examples with the standard cases below:        

He learned that the hotel concierge usually locked the front door at midnight.  

She found out that he still worked at a bank.      

The choice of a past tense in the object subordinate clause

     If the verb in the main clause is in the past tense (usually, in the Simple Past), there are three possible variants of the action in the subordinate clause: at the same time as the action in the main clause; earlier than the action in the main clause; later than the action in the main clause.       

     If the action in the subordinate clause took place at the same time as the action in the main clause, the Simple Past (or the Past Continuous, if required by the context) is used in the subordinate clause, for example:    

I thought that he worked at a bank. 

I knew that she was waiting for me by the entrance.     

    If the action in the subordinate clause took place earlier than the action in the main clause, the Past Perfect (or the Past Perfect Continuous, if required by the context) is used in the subordinate clause, for example:    

I knew that he had already left for Rome.  

She said that she had been waiting for me for a long time.    

     If the action in the subordinate clause took place later than the action in the main clause, the Future in the Past is used in the subordinate clause (“would” is used instead of “will”), for example:    

I wasn’t sure that he would be at home.    

I knew that she would be waiting for me by the entrance.