I have found a few questions on the site regarding habitual action and tenses, but nothing addresses my specific query. I want to know whether it is acceptable to use the present tense to describe a habitual action, one that the person still does, in a sentence where the main verb is in another tense. Do you think the following sentences are acceptable, or are they breaking the sequence of tenses rule?
He must have known that I always walk my dog in that park. Why else would he have been there?
She knew that I don't answer the door after 8 pm, so she rang me instead.
She knew I never use Skype. That's why she came over to my desk to tell me the news.
I thought you knew I don't drink?
Best Answer
The answer to this query is found in A comprehensive grammar of the English language.
He must have known that I always walk my dog in that park. Why else would he have been there?
She knew that I don't answer the door after 8 pm, so she rang me instead.
She knew I never use Skype. That's why she came over to my desk to tell me the news.
I thought you knew I don't drink?
In all four sentences, the type of present used is the habitual present, (I am in the habit of walking my dog…/of not answering the door…/of never using Skype…/of not drinking); therefore there is no problem in using it with the past perfect and the past simple, as this is done in the sentences; it follows that there is no error in those sentences. Here is another instance , that of a sentence in which is found the past perfect.