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Can I say: “When was your train leaving?” if the train leaves in the future?
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The context of this sentence is that I know that I had asked before what the departure time is of the train that my friend was going to take. Unfortunately I had forgotten it, so my brain decided that a past tense would make sense and ask:
"When was your train leaving?"
instead of
"When is your train leaving?"
Is using the past tense in this situation correct and/or common?
tense
asked 5 hours ago
BobBob
1133
New contributor
Bob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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add a comment |
The context of this sentence is that I know that I had asked before what the departure time is of the train that my friend was going to take. Unfortunately I had forgotten it, so my brain decided that a past tense would make sense and ask:
"When was your train leaving?"
instead of
"When is your train leaving?"
Is using the past tense in this situation correct and/or common?
tense
asked 5 hours ago
BobBob
1133
New contributor
Bob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
The context of this sentence is that I know that I had asked before what the departure time is of the train that my friend was going to take. Unfortunately I had forgotten it, so my brain decided that a past tense would make sense and ask:
"When was your train leaving?"
instead of
"When is your train leaving?"
Is using the past tense in this situation correct and/or common?
tense
asked 5 hours ago
BobBob
1133
New contributor
Bob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
The context of this sentence is that I know that I had asked before what the departure time is of the train that my friend was going to take. Unfortunately I had forgotten it, so my brain decided that a past tense would make sense and ask:
"When was your train leaving?"
instead of
"When is your train leaving?"
Is using the past tense in this situation correct and/or common?
tense
tense
asked 5 hours ago
BobBob
1133
New contributor
Bob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 5 hours ago
BobBob
1133
New contributor
Bob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 5 hours ago
BobBob
1133
New contributor
Bob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 5 hours ago
BobBob
1133
asked 5 hours ago
BobBob
1133
1133
New contributor
Bob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Bob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
add a comment |
1 Answer
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You can, actually, use the past tense to ask a question about the future, but it's not really that simple.
"When was your train leaving?"
What is implied here is that the person asking the question knew or was told the answer to the question but forgot. It's often a shortened form of
"When did you say your train was leaving?"
So the question really is about an event that happened in the past—involving the discovery or relation of the information about the train leaving—which has a bearing on the future. It is not a direct request for information about the future event, except as filtered through past events.
answered 4 hours ago
RobustoRobusto
12.8k23044
The extended version clarifies it a lot, thank you!
– Bob
4 hours ago
1
Or that the departure has been changed. It was leaving at 10, and is now leaving at 11 or has been canceled...
– jmoreno
31 mins ago
add a comment |
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1 Answer
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1 Answer
1
active
oldest
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active
oldest
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active
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votes
You can, actually, use the past tense to ask a question about the future, but it's not really that simple.
"When was your train leaving?"
What is implied here is that the person asking the question knew or was told the answer to the question but forgot. It's often a shortened form of
"When did you say your train was leaving?"
So the question really is about an event that happened in the past—involving the discovery or relation of the information about the train leaving—which has a bearing on the future. It is not a direct request for information about the future event, except as filtered through past events.
answered 4 hours ago
RobustoRobusto
12.8k23044
The extended version clarifies it a lot, thank you!
– Bob
4 hours ago
1
Or that the departure has been changed. It was leaving at 10, and is now leaving at 11 or has been canceled...
– jmoreno
31 mins ago
add a comment |
You can, actually, use the past tense to ask a question about the future, but it's not really that simple.
"When was your train leaving?"
What is implied here is that the person asking the question knew or was told the answer to the question but forgot. It's often a shortened form of
"When did you say your train was leaving?"
So the question really is about an event that happened in the past—involving the discovery or relation of the information about the train leaving—which has a bearing on the future. It is not a direct request for information about the future event, except as filtered through past events.
answered 4 hours ago
RobustoRobusto
12.8k23044
The extended version clarifies it a lot, thank you!
– Bob
4 hours ago
1
Or that the departure has been changed. It was leaving at 10, and is now leaving at 11 or has been canceled...
– jmoreno
31 mins ago
add a comment |
You can, actually, use the past tense to ask a question about the future, but it's not really that simple.
"When was your train leaving?"
What is implied here is that the person asking the question knew or was told the answer to the question but forgot. It's often a shortened form of
"When did you say your train was leaving?"
So the question really is about an event that happened in the past—involving the discovery or relation of the information about the train leaving—which has a bearing on the future. It is not a direct request for information about the future event, except as filtered through past events.
answered 4 hours ago
RobustoRobusto
12.8k23044
You can, actually, use the past tense to ask a question about the future, but it's not really that simple.
"When was your train leaving?"
What is implied here is that the person asking the question knew or was told the answer to the question but forgot. It's often a shortened form of
"When did you say your train was leaving?"
So the question really is about an event that happened in the past—involving the discovery or relation of the information about the train leaving—which has a bearing on the future. It is not a direct request for information about the future event, except as filtered through past events.
answered 4 hours ago
RobustoRobusto
12.8k23044
answered 4 hours ago
RobustoRobusto
12.8k23044
answered 4 hours ago
RobustoRobusto
12.8k23044
answered 4 hours ago
RobustoRobusto
12.8k23044
12.8k23044
The extended version clarifies it a lot, thank you!
– Bob
4 hours ago
1
Or that the departure has been changed. It was leaving at 10, and is now leaving at 11 or has been canceled...
– jmoreno
31 mins ago
add a comment |
The extended version clarifies it a lot, thank you!
– Bob
4 hours ago
1
Or that the departure has been changed. It was leaving at 10, and is now leaving at 11 or has been canceled...
– jmoreno
31 mins ago
The extended version clarifies it a lot, thank you!
– Bob
4 hours ago
The extended version clarifies it a lot, thank you!
– Bob
4 hours ago
1
1
Or that the departure has been changed. It was leaving at 10, and is now leaving at 11 or has been canceled...
– jmoreno
31 mins ago
Or that the departure has been changed. It was leaving at 10, and is now leaving at 11 or has been canceled...
– jmoreno
31 mins ago
add a comment |
Bob is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Bob is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Bob is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Bob is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
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