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Past tense after 'by'



DaveyThreads: 17
Posts: 436
Joined: Jun 29, 07 		  Jan 4, 08, 16:58 /  #
I always see sentences like 'by było lepiej' or something of the sort...should that be translated into present tense, like 'in order to be better' or something? Can someone explain this?=)
helloThreads: 37
Posts: 1,104
Joined: Dec 5, 06 		  Jan 4, 08, 17:18 /  #
Yes, it relates to the future but is said now so "in order to be better [in the future]" makes most sense to me.
z_dariusThreads: 22
Posts: 5,091
Joined: Oct 18, 07 		  Jan 4, 08, 22:41 /  #
There is actually a pretty close English equivalent:

'by było (past tense) lepiej' - "so that it were (past tense) better"
BondiThreads: 4
Posts: 148
Joined: Sep 11, 07 		  Jul 25, 08, 14:31 /  #
z_darius:
'by było (past tense) lepiej' - "so that it were (past tense) better"

Grammatically speaking, “...so that it were better” is conjunctive, not past tense.

Though, in contemporary spoken English, you would hear “so it would / it’d be better” or “so it was better”.
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