Merriam dictionary says " 's " can mean IS, WAS, HAS ,and DOES. I have a question about " 's " that can mean WAS. Do native English speakers think that " 's " can mean WAS? Do native English speakers

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Juicy

Merriam dictionary says " 's " can mean IS, WAS, HAS ,and DOES. I have a question about " 's " that can mean WAS. Do native English speakers think that " 's " can mean WAS? Do native English speakers think the example sentence that the dictinary gives is correct? "When's the last time you ate?"(Cited from merriam dictionary) If you and your native English speaker friends hear or see this sentence, "When's the last time you ate?" What does it mean to you and your native English speaker friends? Is "When is the last time you ate?" or "When was the last time you ate?" (This part is the most important question that I want to ask) https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/'s This is the link of merriam dictionary. Type " 's, " and then you can find it. And below is the screen shot of the definitions about " 's " on merriam dictionary. Moreover, may the replyer/answerer recommend a less famous city of the state or county in your country? My hobby is using google map to see the landscape there.

9 февр. 2024 г., 2:16

Ответы · 14

We use 'is' with present tense and 'was' with past tense. 'Ate' is the past of eat. If the action occurred in the past, I believe that the contraction (when's) must agree and, as such, "when's (when was) the last time you ate?"

9 февраля 2024 г.

Yes, Terry gave a good description. It's just because when we speak, we tend to automatically make the contraction and is, was, has, does all end in 's.' He's done that before. = He has done that before. Where's that go? = Where does that go? There's nothing in that box. = There is nothing in that box. (The contraction here could be ambiguous, is or was, but we'll be less likely to mean 'was' when it's in the contracted form. When's the first time you drove a car? = When was the first time you drove a car? The 'is' and 'was' variants can be ambiguous, but look at the rest of the sentence to determine the tense.

9 февраля 2024 г.

As a native speaker I would understand it as 'when was the last time' because we use was with finished time words or phrases (like last time).

9 февраля 2024 г.

When is/was the last time...............................(when's) indistinguishable to native speakers. 1a.) and 2.) sound good. 3.) sounds very colloquial / informal.

9 февраля 2024 г.

don't buy it "was" is never shortened "does" is never shortened either only -- "is" and "has" the examples are wrong when's your last time ate = when is, not when was because ate shows us past, not the times what's he wants = what is the thing he wants = what he wants is his teddy bear, not what does he do

9 февраля 2024 г.

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