Is this correct [closed]
"Now he occasionally felt like working" in a oxford Bookworm
Should not it be "feels" instead of felt ?
Solution 1:
Yes, "Now he occasionally felt like working" is grammatically correct.
I don't know if it should be "felt" because you haven't given enough context, but saying "felt" in that sentence isn't ungrammatical. If the speaker is saying the action of "feeling" took place in the past and is complete, then "felt" is right. "Feels" is present tense. "Felt" is past tense.
If you're wondering about the word "now" heading that sentence, understand that it's not being used to say that the action of "feeling" is happening in the present. Again, you haven't provided enough context to know exactly what that sentence is to get across, but operating from an assumption that "felt"--past tense--isn't a mistake, we should surmise that "now" is being properly used to do either of the following:
- Call draw the listeners attention:
now - 2. Used, especially in conversation, to draw attention to a particular statement or point in a narrative : ‘now, my first impulse was to run away’; ‘I don't like Scotch. Now, if it had been Irish Whiskey you'd offered me.’
- Express what was current in the past, for example, "The jury was now ready to render its verdict"; or, "This was new. Now he occasionally felt like working. He had never felt like working before."
now - 1.5 (in a narrative or account of past events) at the time spoken of or referred to : ‘she was nineteen now, and she was alone’