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I have two sentences:
"Would you mind if I OPENED the window?"
"My father has always been working very hard"
Usually, I say: "Would you mind if I OPEN the window?"
and :"My father has always worked very hard"
So please help me work this out: which sentences are correct?
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You can say either "Would you mind if I open the window?" OR "Would you mind if I opened the window?" Both are acceptable, and I have no strong preference for one over the other.
But I would definitely choose "My father has always worked very hard" over "My father has always been working very hard." That sounds a bit tortured and contrived to me, because of the word always, which usually demands the other tense. I would really have to see that used in context in order to justify it to myself.
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masha,
You can also say "Do you mind if I open the window?"
"My father has always worked very hard" is correct. "My father has always been working very hard" is not correct syntax for English even though I'm sure it is correct in some other languages.
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I also agree with you two. The first two sentences were given by my sister's tutor, which I did not agree. My sister was very confused and I was not quite sure about the, so I came here to ask for your opionion. Thank you very much.
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