Gomez’s grandfather paints very well too but cannot do so now.
Why is “paints” used here and not painted? I thought it should be painted as the grandfather could not do it now. I thought his ability to paint is in the past so past tense should be used?
Best Answer
It is reasonable to use the present tense, if the intended meaning of "He paints well" is "He can paint well".
Here it is a bit surprising, as it is saying that he has an ability to paint, (for example, he is "artistic") but unable to paint, for probably physical reasons. So my understanding of this is that he is artistic but with age he has lost the ability to hold a paintbrush.
But normally (and the expected form for a book on Grammar) would be "used to paint"