On Fri, 28 Feb 2014, alexander koryagin wrote to mark lewis:   
      
     ak>> -----Beginning of the citation-----   
     ak>>     Harry followed his gaze up the carefully tended front   
     ak>> path and felt his heart sink. The front door was hanging   
     ak>> off its hinges.   
     ak>> -----The end of the citation-----   
     ml>   
     ak>> Why sink -- not sank?   
     ml>   
     ml> his heart is currently sinking... it had not sank yet and it   
     ml> was not already sunk... yes, it is a tense thing... it was   
     ml> happening in the present...   
      
    ak> In the present? Then, IMHO, it must be "sinks".   
      
   no, in the present of the time when it happened in the story... "he felt his   
   heart sink" while it was sinking...   
      
   "he felt his heart sinks" makes no sense...   
      
   )\/(ark   
      
   One of the great tragedies of life is the murder of a beautiful theory by a   
   gang of brutal facts. --Benjamin Franklin   
      
   --- FMail/Win32 1.60   
    * Origin:  (1:3634/12.71)