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Please help me with this question about tense. I've got a question about tense. It's from an high school English test. I really am confused. They say that there are two wrong tense out of those five ones in this sentenses. A man who operated an icehouse lost his good watch in the sawdust. He ■(offered) a reward, and several men went through the sawdust with rakes. But they were not able to find the watch. When the searchers ■(left) the building for lunch, a small boy went into the icehouse. A few minutes later he came out with the watch. They asked him how he ■(had found one). He replied, "I just ■(laid down) in the sawdust and listend. Finally I heard the watch ■(ticking)." a. offered b. left c. had found one d. laid down e. ticking I only found out that (b) is wrong and it should be like this : "had left" Do you agree with my correction? Well, I don't think there are one more thing besides "b" Could you please help me find one left?
Aug 27, 2014 3:04 PM
Answers · 6
1
d) laid down The verbs "lay" and "lie" are very confusing, even for native speakers. "Lay" means that you place something else down. It is similar to the word "set." The past tense for "lay" is "laid." "Lie" means that you place yourself in a reclined position, such as how you sleep on a bed. In this case, the boy placed himself on the ground, so you need to use the verb "lie." The past tense of "lie" is "lay." (You can see why it's confusing!) However, in daily speech, most natives will use "lay" for both meanings. You will hear "I need to go lay down" more often than "I need to lie down." http://www.chompchomp.com/rules/irregularrules02.htm
August 27, 2014
1
The tenses all look fine to me - there are no errors in tense use. You could change 'left' to 'had left', but it isn't necessary - the past simple is fine. There are some inaccuracies, however. Line 6 should be '..how he had found it'. Line 7 should be '.. I just lay down in the sawdust and listened'.
August 27, 2014
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