Question

"The Vietnam War is a seismic event whose repercussions reach down to this day."Just to make sure, am I right to use 'is' instead of 'was' in the above example?Thank you.

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

No, use 'was'.

SuperESL · Answer

I am not clear about the 'thought process' behind this grammatical decision. Can you enlighten me on this please?

If I simply say:

"The Vietnam War was a seismic event whose repercussions reach down to this day."

Then I should use 'was.'

But if I say:

"The Vietnam War is a seismic event in American history whose repercussions reach down to this day."

Then is it correct to use 'is'?

My way of thinking is that since the Vietnam War was, has been, and still is considered a seismic event in American history, I should use the present tense to indicate the unchanging state of the event's standing. Or should I still use 'was'? Or can both 'is' and 'was' be used in this case?

Thank you.

Mister Micawber · Answer

'Reach down to this day' strongly suggests an event in the past.  Use 'was'.

SuperESL · Answer

Thank you.

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