Verb Tense Debate

Users argue over the appropriate use of past, present, or future tense in Hacker News titles and comments, debating whether events are ongoing or historical. Discussions extend to English grammar nuances like perfect aspects and conjugations.

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2,273
Comments
20
Years Active
5
Top Authors
#4200
Topic ID

Activity Over Time

2007
3
2008
12
2009
44
2010
44
2011
51
2012
64
2013
92
2014
74
2015
58
2016
102
2017
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2018
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2019
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2020
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2021
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2022
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2023
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2024
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2025
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2026
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Keywords

e.g US NYT GP meet.aspx usegrasp.com tense past verb present english perfect future action grammatical calculus

Sample Comments

avip May 8, 2018 View on HN

Not sure why you're using future tense here.

telesilla Nov 3, 2020 View on HN

You're using the past tense. Sorry to say, still the case.

DanBC May 8, 2017 View on HN

Hence my use of the past tense "used", not present tense "uses".

Notice that they are talking in the present tense, while you are talking in the past tense.

yrimaxi Jan 21, 2021 View on HN

Ok. I guess verb tense falls short in this case. :-)

namdnay Nov 13, 2023 View on HN

that's why i used the past tense

manmal Feb 27, 2024 View on HN

You’re using past tense - has this period ended for you?

erentz Aug 15, 2020 View on HN

Wow. In that case substitute what I said for past tense :)

bluehex Jun 28, 2020 View on HN

Maybe they meant to say “have been using” instead of “used”.

sorrythanks Sep 17, 2025 View on HN

their point is that it has not yet taken place, so shouldn't be talked about using past tense