Grammatically Correct?
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- Tonia Freeman
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Grammatically Correct?
"As the book unfolds, I was driven to find these answers and answer the new questions that seemed to pop up with each twist and turn. The questions circling my mind kept me glued to the pages and counting down the minutes until I could once again be immersed in the action-packed world of terrorists, their plots, and those fighting to keep the world safe."
Thanks for the help.
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Hi there. In the first sentence, I would stick with one type of tense. In this case, since you're narrating an experience you had, I'd use the past tense.Tonia Freeman wrote: ↑29 Sep 2022, 16:38 What is your take on this sentence grammatically?
"As the book unfolds, I was driven to find these answers and answer the new questions that seemed to pop up with each twist and turn. The questions circling my mind kept me glued to the pages and counting down the minutes until I could once again be immersed in the action-packed world of terrorists, their plots, and those fighting to keep the world safe."
Thanks for the help.
"As the story [unfolded], I was driven to find these answers and answer the new questions that seemed to pop up with each twist and turn."
If you choose to use the present tense, though, it wouldn't only be about your experience.
"As the story unfolds, the reader is driven to find these answers and answer the new questions that seem to pop up with each twist and turn."
I hope this helps!
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Hello.Tonia Freeman wrote: ↑29 Sep 2022, 16:38 What is your take on this sentence grammatically?
"As the book unfolds, I was driven to find these answers and answer the new questions that seemed to pop up with each twist and turn. The questions circling my mind kept me glued to the pages and counting down the minutes until I could once again be immersed in the action-packed world of terrorists, their plots, and those fighting to keep the world safe."
Thanks for the help.
Thank you for the inquiry. As @C Janet mentioned above, there is an inconsistency in your tenses. Kindly read her suggestions. If you have any other questions, please let me know.
Thank you.
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- Tonia Freeman
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"I am driven to get answers."
"I drove over to her house."
The only time I use "drive" is when referring to an auto, plus none of my checks dinged it. I just wish we didn't get docked 10 points for pretty minor errors. I do try and work hard on edits and re-edit them many times and it seems I always miss something.
Anyway thank you both.
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You're welcome!Tonia Freeman wrote: ↑30 Sep 2022, 10:12 Thanks for the help. I guess in my mind "driven" is current tense, in this situation because it's something you are not something you do. I think of "drove" as the past tense of driven. Maybe it's a location base use (Midwest)?
"I am driven to get answers."
"I drove over to her house."
The only time I use "drive" is when referring to an auto, plus none of my checks dinged it. I just wish we didn't get docked 10 points for pretty minor errors. I do try and work hard on edits and re-edit them many times and it seems I always miss something.
Anyway thank you both.
And you are right about "driven" being an adjective in this case—something you are—and not a verb. The verbs that come before it are what determine the tense, like in the sentences below.
"I [was] driven to get answers."
"I [am] driven to get answers."
Drove is the past tense of drive, while driven is the past participle (the reason it is an adjective in this case). But that wasn't the error, though, was it?
I know how frustrating it is to lose points for a minor error. We do learn from every mistake, though, so there's that.
- Tonia Freeman
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