two questions

Question

In this exercise the sentence including "pouvoir payer"...why is this not "je ne peux pas?"  Also later in the dialogue when referring to M. Duport was his representative, the dialog uses present tense C'est not C'etait.  why?

Céline Pickard · Accepted Answer

Bonjour Tony,
- "pouvoir payer": even though it is grammatically correct, you cannot have "je ne peux pas payer" (= I cannot pay) because the sentence starts with "je ne pense pas (pouvoir payer)" which translates as "I don't think I can pay". If you had "je ne pense pas que", then it would be followed by Le Subjonctif:

Je ne pense pas que je puisse payer 
Je ne pense pas pouvoir payer

- "C'est Mr Dupont qui était responsable": The main action or state being described (était responsable) is in the past tense, but the act of identifying who was responsible is happening in the present moment (i.e. while speaking).
I hope this is helpful.