Question at position 39 39. Which sentence uses the correct past tense of the non-action/stative verb "believe" (mental state)? I am believing you yesterday when you said you loved me.I believed you yesterday when you said you loved me.I was believing you yesterday when you said you loved me.I believing you yesterday when you were saying you loved me.I believe you yesterday when you said you loved me.

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BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The sentence asks for the correct past tense of the non-action/stative verb 'believe' (a mental state verb).
Option 1: 'I am believing you yesterday when you said you loved me.' This uses the present participle 'am believing' with a specific past time reference 'yesterday,' which is grammatically inconsistent. Stative verbs like 'believe' generally do not take a continuous/progressive form when discussing states in the past.
Option 2: 'I believed you yesterday when you said you loved me.' Here, 'believed' is the simple past tense, which correctly matches the time reference 'yesterday.' This aligns with the standard way to express a mental state that occurred at a definite past time.
Option 3: 'I was believing you yesterday when you said you loved me.' This attempts a past progressive form 'was believing' for a mental state, which is uncommon and unnatural for stative verbs like 'believe' when indicating a specific past moment.
Option 4: 'I believing you yesterday when you were saying you loved me.' This is ungrammatical due to missing auxiliary 'am/is/was' before 'believing' and also mixes continuous forms in a way that doesn't fit the simple past time reference.
Option 5: 'I believe you yesterday when you said you loved me.' This uses the present tense 'believe' with a clearly past time adverb 'yesterday,' creating a tense mismatch between the main verb and the time expression.
In summary, the key considerations are whether a stative verb expresses a past-state with appropriate tense, and whether the continuous form is necessary. The simplest and most natural past reference for a mental state like belief, tied to a definite past moment, is the simple past tense 'believed.'
Thus, the sentence that correctly uses the past tense for the non-action/stative verb 'believe' with the past time reference is the one employing 'believed' in simple past: 'I believed you yesterday when you said you loved me.'

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