question about tenses

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conjecture - 29 Dec 2003 17:13 GMT

When I read a terrifying story yesterday, it scared me. I tell this to
my friends. I should say "It scares me" or "It scared me". I want to
tell my friends that the story is frigthening.

Thanks
Note: Please correct me if you find any mistakes in my sentences.

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Donna Richoux - 01 Jan 2004 20:55 GMT

> When I read a terrifying story yesterday, it scared me. I tell this to
> my friends. I should say "It scares me" or "It scared me". I want to
> tell my friends that the story is frigthening.

If the story continued to frighten you and you still felt the same way
when you told your friends about it, then you certainly can say
"scares". You still could use "scared," though, probably adding "and it
still does."

If it scared you when you read it but something later changed your mind
-- you learned something else, perhaps, or you learned it wasn't a true
story -- then you'd have to use "scared."

> Thanks
> Note: Please correct me if you find any mistakes in my sentences.

The spelling of "frightening" is one. And the middle section should be,
"If I tell this to my friends, should I say... ?"

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Best wishes -- Donna Richoux

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Michael Hamm - 02 Jan 2004 05:02 GMT

> When I read a terrifying story yesterday, it scared me. I tell this to
> my friends. I should say "It scares me" or "It scared me". I want to
> tell my friends that the story is frigthening.

Similarly, if I mistakenly believed something, and, had I been correct,
that thing would still now be true, then... Argh. Let me illustrate with
an example.

Say I yesterday thought Jimmy Carter dead, and today I found out he's not.
I can now say "I thought he was dead" (the way I say it) or "I thought
he's dead" (the way my wife says it [1]). Which is more common?

[1] Actually, I don't know how she'd say that. But she uses the present
tense in similar sentences under similar circumstances, so I
extrapolated.

Michael Hamm Since mid-September of 2003,
AM, Math, Wash. U. St. Louis I've been erasing too much UBE.
msh210@math.wustl.edu Of a reply, then, if you have been cheated,
http://math.wustl.edu/~msh210/ Likely your mail's by mistake been deleted.

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2004

question about tenses