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I just wanted to check in and see how you are doing.

Or

I just wanted to check in and see how you were doing.

Should the tenses match?

Lane
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  • Either one is correct and in speech one likely wouldn't hear any difference anyway. – John Lawler Aug 28 '21 at 14:29
  • Depends on context. If both wanting and checking were in the past, then both should be in some form of past tense; if you've not finished checking, then the second part should perhaps be in present tense. – Stuart F Aug 28 '21 at 16:04

1 Answers1

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“I just wanted to stop by and see how you are doing”. Would be correct for most cases. In the past or future form. ‘Want’ would be used for present tense.

I assume you mean this in a general sense. In that case, the fact that you want to see ‘how they are doing’ would remaind the same. The ‘Tense’ would be more focused on WHEN you are wanting to stop by. Wanted (past/future), Want (present). Meaning, no matter when you stop by, essentially, it is to see how they are doing.

Mark Finckbone
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  • Welcome to EL&U, Mark. What does "Wanted (past/future)" mean in terms of tense? – livresque Aug 28 '21 at 23:55
  • Please provide additional details in your answer. – Community Aug 28 '21 at 23:56
  • @livresque Good question, given that wanted is inflectionally marked as past tense, so the unmarked want therefore serves as any of several nonpast contexts. Those are the only two tenses English has. – tchrist Aug 29 '21 at 00:02