Instead of "Would you mind if I ask you something?" Why past tense, I don't get it?
87731
We use simple past to state a hypothetical present situation that we would like to speculate about (If they were here, I would be happy), past perfect for a hypothetical past (had they been here, I would have been happy), and simple present to a hypothetical future. Any explanation why this makes sense, as opposed to past for past, present for present, and future for future?
50597
When and why did we start using auxiliary verbs, particularly "do", to ask questions and make negatives?
89805
I was wondering which one is grammatically correct between "Why didn't (or did not) somebody do something?" and "Why did somebody not do something?"
39307
A friend and I are having a debate about a most perplexing piece of English grammar. Now, I am a native English speaker, and he is Polish - this means that he is rather clued up on the grammatical side of things, whereas I know diddly squat, but know what feels right.   We were discussing Poland's next world cup match tomorrow, when Poland plays against Colombia, and I wrote to him after he me sent a heartwarming video (jokingly, of course), that 'I think threats of stoning if they don't succeed would be more effective.'  He replied that such a sentance should be in the second conditional tense, and thus go like 'I think threats of stoning if they didn't succeed would be more effective.'  So after a lively debate as to whether this is the second, first, or not even a conditional, I have no choice but to turn to the denizens of the interweb, to ask them to apply their grammatical expertise to resolve this vital question.  Thanks in advance, Conor
55880
What is the grammatical interpretation of the phrase?  I don't understand what verb tense or voice is used.
24689
I'm interested to know why we use had better for recommendation. Technically we're speaking of an action that hasn't yet occurred. Like he had better leave a tip means he hasn't yet left a tip, but I suggest he do.    Why do we use the past tense had if it has nothing to do with the past? Why do we not use the subjunctive here? (He have better leave a tip.)
105229
From what I’ve read, and got, , a complete declarative sentence requests a verb, and arguments.  Does a complete interrogative request this, to get thought of as grammatically proper, too?     She (subject, argument[?]) did (auxiliary verb[?]) not (auxiliary adverb[?]) go (intransitive verb[?]).      Did (auxiliary verb[?]) she (subject, argument[?]) not (auxiliary adverb[?]) go (intransitive verb[?])?   And may you use it, and have it grammatically, and syntactically proper, as     Did she go not?
53855
My friend asked me just today, "Hey, how are you?"        I said, "Tired, sleepy, and can't concentrate on my work."      He then asked, "Why so?"   Here is where the interesting part starts.       I said, "I have had a headache yesterday"   He said that I should have said "I had a headache yesterday" instead of "I have had a headache yesterday"  But all grammar books say that with Present Perfect + Past Tense we mean an action that continues into the present; has consequences in the present.  I didn't want to just tell the fact that I had a headache but I implied that that was the reason I was "Tired, sleepy, and can't concentrate on my work."  Who is right?
55823
From a film subtitle:     "What would've happenned if you were a few minutes later, Hani?"   I think that 'What would have happened if you had been a few minutes later,Hani?'is right?  I think this is third conditional sentence. Could you tell me the grammar I don't know? Or is this wrong sentence?
9061
From my research online the correct way is to say "If I were you" and not "If I was you" because this is the "subjunctive mood".  However they don't say the underlying reason for it. They just say use "If I were you" when it is subjunctive.  What if I wanted to say "If he was you", should I use "if he were you" instead? Since most post talk about "If I.." I have no way to know what would be the correct way for "If he...", "If she..", etc.  I read that the subjunctive is a mood and not a Tense. With Tenses you know the conjugation. How does it work with the moods?  I found  which has a long list of conjugations, and it has "I were" for the Past subjunctive.   So, when I am saying "If I were you":   Am I using the "Past Subjunctive"?  And therefore I should also say "If he were you"?
44596
I don't think you understood me. / I think you misunderstood me.    Do these senteces mean the same thing? If not, what's the difference?  Edit: I just realized that I asked something different from what I originally wanted. So I am also interested in the following comparison:     I don't think you understand me. / I think you don't understand me.
114371
Back at home, it was so dim.      I used to play football back in my school days.      We used to eat by hands back in my country.   Is back optional in these sentences or does it change their respective meanings in any way?
96818
I have a question about violating verb tenses. I was taught that you can't use present perfect (or continuous) and past simple within a sentence. You either have to use present perfects (or continuous) with present perfects (or continuous), and past simples with past simples. But I've found this not to be true, so I'm a bit confused.   Here is an email one of my native American friends sent me.     Hey, it's been such a long time since we last emailed each other. Thanks for sending me an email! Getting that email was such a pleasant surprise, because I was just thinking how I've been wanting to send you an email as well.   What confuses me the most is the last part. How can you say that you were thinking about how you have been wanting to do something?   I was taught that this is wrong: "he has decided to go hiking, so I went hiking as well." But I'm assuming that my friend's email is correct, since he IS a native speaker.   So, this is what I'm thinking: I can't say present perfect (or continuous) + past simple, but I can say past simple + present perfect (or continuous).   This violates verb tenses:     "he has decided to go hiking, so I went hiking as well."    But this doesn't:     "I went hiking because he has decided to go hiking."   Are there instances where present perfect (or continuous) + past simple or vice versa is allowed and correct?  EDIT:  This is a difficult concept for me to grasp. But thank you for all your help, because I'm learning a lot. There are many sentences that don't make sense to me. I came across this sentence today:     "[I think this is inferred: During those days,] We've watched the movie many times. I really wanted this life to continue."   I'm not sure what the present perfect is doing here. I don't think it is being used for describing what a person has done before, like "I've seen that movie before". Why is it not simply "We watched the movie many times. [It was so good that] I really wanted this life to continue"?
23186
"Thought you'd never ask" is "I thought you'd never ask" with "I" omitted. "Hope this helps" is "I hope this helps" with "I" omitted.   In English grammar, normally every sentence should have a subject, right?   My first thought is that these two examples are so often used that they are like set phrases. But these are not really set phrases. You can alter the words after "thought" and "hope".  Another possible explanation is the tendency to drop the subject if it is the first person pronoun. It seems that in many languages, such as Spanish, Italian and Japanese, the first person subject is usually omitted. Maybe English is going the same way? (Not exactly the same, since in Italian, verb forms change according to the person, so the subject is not necessary to understand who one's referring to.)  And, apparently, such omission is more common in spoken English than in written English.  Are there more examples of such first person subject omission? How frequent is it?
15384
Examples:        Why, I'd love to.   Why, of course!      I get the concept of starting a sentence with a word not completely related to the overall response, but this one seems to be a particularly odd choice&nbsp;— is there any semantic meaning I'm missing?
109721
What is the difference between these two sentences?     Why are you worried?   Why you are worried?   Which one is correct?
60397
"I would have been prey for those cats had you not come, am I right?" Is this grammatically correct?   I dont understand that "had you not come" part. Is this some kind of conditional? Shouldn't there be something like "If you didnt come"?