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changes or changed

Sun14

Senior Member
Chinese
Hello, my friends,

This question is from a Chinese test of English proficiency:

A: Is peter coming.

B: No, he his mind after a phone call at the last minutes.

A: changes B: changed

It is clear that B is correct owing to the past time at the end of the sentence require the sentence to use Simple Past Tense. My question is that if there is no time, namely regardless of at he last minutes, is it natural to choose A?

See correction in #5.
Last edited:
I don't think so. B is reporting on the news that Peter is not coming, so his change of mind is always in the past by the time B is talking about it.

By the way, you do not need a plural for last minute.
If you don't add "at the last minute", you can use either simple past "changed" or present perfect "has changed".

I you use the present tense "changes", it sounds as though he always changes his mind when he makes or receives a phone call.

Have you copied the test question exactly as it was presented? Apart from the incorrect "minutes", there are two errors in A.
If you don't add "at the last minute", you can use either simple past "changed" or present perfect "has changed".

I you use the present tense "changes", it sounds as though he always changes his mind when he makes or receives a phone call.

Have you copied the test question exactly as it was presented? Apart from the incorrect "minutes", there are two errors in A.

There are some typos. I correct it in #5.
Hello, my friends,

This question is from a Chinese test of English proficiency:

A: Is peter coming.

B: No, he ____ mind after a phone call at last minute.

A: changes B: changed

It is clear that B is correct owing to the past time at the end of the sentence require the sentence to use Simple Past Tense. My question is that if there is no time, namely regardless of at he last minutes, is it natural to choose A?
If that was how the question was presented, I think you should avoid the book or site where you found it.

A. Is Peter coming?
B. No, he ________ his mind after a phone call at the last minute.

1) changes 2) changed
If that was how the question was presented, I think you should avoid the book or site where you found it.

A. Is Peter coming?
B. No, he ________ his mind after a phone call at the last minute.

1) changes 2) changed

Got it. Thank you very much.
It is clear that B is correct owing to the past time at the end of the sentence require the sentence to use Simple Past Tense. My question is that if there is no time, namely regardless of at he last minutes, is it natural to choose A?
No: the present tense still doesn't work. 👁 Frown :(


If you change the sentence to:
B1: "No, he changes his mind after a phone call."
it almost suggests that every time he gets a phone call, he changes his mind about something. 👁 Eek! :eek:


I think you could use the perfect tense there, though:
B2: No, he has changed his mind after a phone call at last minute. 👁 Smile :)
No: the present tense still doesn't work. 👁 Frown :(


If you change the sentence to:
B1: "No, he changes his mind after a phone call."
it almost suggests that every time he gets a phone call, he changes his mind about something. 👁 Eek! :eek:


I think you could use the perfect tense there, though:
B2: No, he has changed his mind after a phone call at last minute. 👁 Smile :)

Got it. Thank you very much.👁 Big Grin :D
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