I’ll bet she stepped in

[Maybo]

Jeff Kinney (Diary of a Wimpy Kid)
Why is “she stepped in …” the past tense?

 

[jutfrank]

The past tense is used because the speaker is talking about past time. The action happened in the past.

 

[Tarheel]

It doesn't work that way. The tendency is to repeat the same syllable, thus: buh buh buh book.

 

[Maybo]

The past tense is used because the speaker is talking about past time. The action happened in the past.

Why did he say “I’ll bet” but did not say “I bet”?

 

[jutfrank]

Why did he say “I’ll bet” but did not say “I bet”?

They have pretty much the same effect in this context.

Don't think of the use of 'will' as referring to the future, if that's what you're doing.

 

[Skrej]

It doesn't work that way. The tendency is to repeat the same syllable, thus: buh buh buh book.

I think that's supposed to be the joke - he's trying to make himself look so incompetent that he supposedly can't even recognize the vowels.