Grammar question

[Cruzan]

Consider this exchange:

That was an exciting movie, wasn't it?
Oh, do you think so? I am surprised you like it. I think it is rather disappointing.


The first sentence is in the past tense, the rest is in the present. Can that ever be considered correct? Or should the whole thing be in the past, as in:

That was an exciting movie, wasn't it?
Oh, did you think so? I am surprised you liked it. I thought it was rather disappointing.


EDIT: typo, sorry.

[Cronus Protagonist]

1. I am surprised like it.

It seems to me that something's missing from that sentence.

[Rhiannon12866]

2. you.

:shrug:

[Cronus Protagonist]

8. Could have been I or they or perhaps even anyone, and so on

This is a grammar OP, you know! lol :)

[Rhiannon12866]

12. It seemed as if it should have been "you," to me...

And I think that the reply should be in the same tense as the original statement, but people don't talk the same way that they write, don't follow the same rules, and nobody seems to really notice... ;)

[Cruzan]

7. Sorry, typo.

Now fixed.

[sailor65]

3. Your second example is correct except

for the missing "You" between "Surprised" and "Liked"

Both uses of "Did/Do you think so" were fine.

[NYC_SKP]

4. I'll give some latitude to these types of exchanges.

Movie watching takes place in real time, but movies are forever.

Consider this exchange, with bits of though and context in parentheses:

That was an exciting movie (to watch), wasn't it?

I think it is rather disappointing (as an example of film making).

~~~~~

If referring to the experience of seeing it earlier that evening, all comments should be in the past.

If referring to the film itself, present tense is acceptable.

"I did not enjoy 'Dude Where's My Car', I think it is a disappointing film."

~~~~~

:P

[bemildred]

5. There is nothing incorrect about either version,

except for the absence of "you" after "surprised".

[Goblinmonger]

6. I might even argue that only "thought" needs to be past tense.

Clearly "do" is fine because it is a response to what you are thinking right now based on what you have said. "Like" is a little trickier, but I would assume that the "liking" is still going on so it could be present. "Thought" should be past, though, IMHO, since it was something that happened during the film.

[EFerrari]

9. The custom is to talk about a work of art in the present tense

when you're critiquing it, "Robert Redford's new film is fast paced and beautifully written".

But, if you're describing your experience of that work, then the past tense would be fine to use, "I liked it when I watched it".

[izquierdista]

10. English and its superfluous tenses

To notice the difference is to be on the way to being a pedantic putz. Unless one's opinions vacillate like the wind, thought and think are equivalent, and liked still continues into the present. My advice? Learn a language that is not hamstrung by too many tenses. Then you can enjoy linguistic freedom.

[TexasObserver]

11. The events discussed are past tense in the former, present tense in the latter.

It is written properly.

That was an exciting movie, wasn't it?
Oh, do you think so? I am surprised you like it. I think it is rather disappointing.

The first sentence refers to the experience just shared, what is past tense. You saw the movie.

The second and successive sentences are in the present tense because they discuss what you're doing right now. You query. You are surprised. You think.

If you were describing this event in the past tense, you would write the entire thing in the past tense.

After we saw the movie, she commented that it was an exciting movie and suggested I agreed. I expressed my surprise to her that she liked it, and told her I was disappointed in it.

[Cruzan]

13. Sorry for being dense, but would that still apply to a shared experience clearly in the past?

For example:

(1) That was a great dinner we had last night, wasn't it?
Oh, did you think so? I am surprised you liked it. I thought it was rather disappointing.

vs.

(2) That was a great dinner we had last night, wasn't it?
Oh, do you think so? I am surprised you like it. I think it is rather disappointing.

Are you saying (1) is strictly grammatically wrong?

And I suppose there's also:

(3) That was a great dinner we had last night, wasn't it?
Oh, do you think so? I am surprised you liked it. I think it was rather disappointing.

[Greyhound]

14. (3) is the correct version.

That is the only one in a consistent tense.

In (1), 'did' is incorrect because the previous question establishes the opinion in the present tense, while the following is written in past tense.

(2) is acceptable but awkward and since the meal was in the past, the past tense 'was' is better.

[Hannah Bell]

16. They're all fine.

He was tiresome (yesterday).
He is tiresome (in his essence; yesterday, today, & always or usually)

[Hannah Bell]

15. "was an exciting movie" = the movie we just saw in the PAST.

"you think so," "I am surprised," "you like it." "I think," all = *now,* at this PRESENT time, as we're speaking.

"i thought" = when i saw it in the PAST.

"it was disappointing" to me when i saw it in the PAST.

The grammar is fine.

The grammar here is also fine:

"I think it is rather disappointing." "I think" (now, in the present) "it is disappointing" (in its essence, which remains the same in the PAST, PRESENT, & FUTURE).

Just as you could say both:

That was a good book (when I read it)
That is a good book (anytime you read it)


there's nothing wrong with the grammar.