Grumpier Old Men

Old buddy, old pal.
You're absolutely right about 'seen' being the past tense of 'see' and poor old Al was wrong in this instance, but 'saw' is also the past tense of 'see.':wink:

Al probably meant to write, "They saw him coming."

Now this raises another question, did they actually see him coming at the time of making his donation?

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Common sense, the most uncommon of all the senses.

simple case of confusing imperfect with perfect past tense.

imperfect - they saw him coming
perfect - they have seen him coming

the inclusion of 'must' only works in the perfect tense don't it.

How come your sig is missing when you discuss grammar?

Andy.I wrote:-
Because I didn't want it to detract from my pedantic reply - also didn't want to attract pedants to my pedant. (Didn't work did it?)

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Tolerance is a set allowance that ensures a good fit and smooth running. Any more tolerance and things get sloppy or don't work at all.
We live in a very, very tolerant society already.

Shouldn't two questions be separated with a comma?

Didn't work, did it?

You didn't want pedants to be attracted to your pedantry or pedantic behaviour?

When did hyphens replace commas, that's new to me?

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Common sense, the most uncommon of all the senses.

Dearest El, "Didn't work" is a statement, not a question. However a comma is still needed to separate a statement and the subsequent question "did it?"

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If you can't answer a man's arguments, all is not lost; you can still call him vile names
Elbert Hubbard
Post may contain sarcasm.
Cad, bounder and part time scoundrel.
ludd

Didn't work? Did it?

No, you're correct and I'm just a peasant pedant.

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Common sense, the most uncommon of all the senses.