past or present ?

Question

americans use the past tense even if you want it to mean present for example (in class, teacher says,,,) that was a good answer!

it can be changed to that is a good answer cuz they are both in the place and talking about present

so,,,,my question is,,,when someone said " he was married", could it mean he IS married? denpends on th context??

Answer 1

depends on the context. um if its in a conversation just listen to them and you will figure it out

Answer 2

Let us start with your first example. When the teacher says "that was a good answer" she means "that was a good answer that you gave" and is referring to an event in the past, even if the very, very recent past. "that is a good answer" is a characterization of the value of the answer to the question and refers to the present. "Four" is a good answer to the question what is 2 + 2 because it is correct. "four" was a good answer to the question "what is 2 + 2" when you gave that answer. Okay?

Now the next point. "He was married" is a bit tricky because we use that in a particular way. We can say "he was married last October" to mean "he got married [his marriage took place] last October" with no implication that he is or that he is not still married. Otherwise it is a general statement about the marital status a person had at some point in time, again, with no direct implication what that person's marital status is now. If you wish to state that someone is, right now, married, you have to say "he is married" or "he is a married man".

Answer 3

yes.he was married with her ,but had a divorce soon...