gerund + past?

Can I use gerund and past simple tense in the same sentence?

For example:

Andy sleeping in his outdoor clothes because he was tired is not an excuse. He should’ve washed up first.


Context: Andy slept as soon as he got home in his outdoor clothes without washing up first because he was tired and too lazy to change.

This is odd because the bits don't hang well together.

Do you mean he should have washed himself? In the UK "washed up" refers to dishes etc after a meal.

Then to the matter of your question - the bit with the gerund sounds very unusual to me.
I wouldn't use a gerund there, I would phrase it differently.

And actually being tired IS (apparently) his excuse - so logically you can't say it isn't an excuse. You can say that it is not an excuse that you accept, or you don't find his excuse "good enough"

The short answer is yes, you can combine them in the same sentence, but I agree with Suzi that that particular sentence is logically problematic. There would be no problem with something like "Andy falling asleep in class because he didn't sleep the night before isn't something I like to see."

(The fact) That he was tired is not an excuse for Andy sleeping in his outdoor clothes last night. He should’ve taken a shower.

Is this OK?

Fibonaccio said:

(The fact) That he was tired is not an excuse for Andy sleeping in his outdoor clothes last night. He should’ve taken a shower.

Is this OK?

I think so. A speaker would probably begin the sentence with the fact in colloquial U.S. English. In my experience, it isn't common to begin sentences with that. The construction is certainly possible, but it sounds rather literary.

Fibonaccio said:

(The fact) That he was tired is not an excuse for Andy sleeping in his outdoor clothes last night. He should’ve taken a shower.

Is this OK?

Much more natural. 😃