is vs was

Members help members on grammar, vocab, pronunciation...

Moderator: EC

Post Reply
sntforu
Member
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 1:47 am
Status: Learner of English

is vs was

Post by sntforu »

Which one of the two, "my b'day is on 4th oct" and "my b'day was on 4th oct" is correct?
maazrah
Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2010 5:19 pm
Status: Teacher of English

Re: is vs was

Post by maazrah »

Hi,
It depends if you are telling someone of a passed birthday(you will use "was"), or if it is a birthday to come (you will use "is").

Hope that helps,
Maaz
English-for-free.com
sntforu
Member
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 1:47 am
Status: Learner of English

Re: is vs was

Post by sntforu »

I agree.

Eventough the day has passed, but it will again come back the following year. So should it be was or is?
User avatar
Awaken
Member
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2010 3:36 pm
Status: Other

Re: is vs was

Post by Awaken »

If you are just saying it in regular conversation or in response to a question about when your birthday is, you would use "is." In general it is usually in response to a question.

"When was your birthday?" - "My birthday was January 9th." (Correct)
"When is your birthday?" - "My birthday is January 9th." (Also correct)
Both are correct. It is context dependent.
Post Reply