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I used to play hockey, but now I play football.

He ate my cake yesterday, so I will eat his cake today.

As these are compound sentences and in both of these sentences the first clause is in past tense and the second clause is in present/future tense. Is it all right to use them so? As we know, when we have complex (not compound but complex) sentences, the past is generally followed by a past.

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  • Yes, they are fine. A small point, though: both your examples are complex, not compound, sentences. The first has the dependent clause "to play hockey" as complement to "used" and in the second, the so preposition phrase has the dependent will clause as complement. – BillJ Aug 18 '16 at 19:30
  • @BillJ Isn't so a coordinating conjunction here? – deadrat Aug 18 '16 at 19:33
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    As we know,.... How do we know this? – deadrat Aug 18 '16 at 19:34
  • Probably the same way we know that there is a sequence of tense rule in English. I.e, somebody once told us, and we always believe anything that somebody tells us -- or at least we do if it's about grammar. – John Lawler Aug 18 '16 at 20:36

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