0
Anonymous Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

are/were satisfactory

Hi
I'd like some help with the following sentence'

A number of papers have suggested alternatives but unfortunately none of them are / were satisfactory

I'm not sure which tense is the best to use and why.

Thanks
Joe
  

Top answer

A number of papers have suggested alternatives but unfortunately none of them were satisfactory. = The alternatives have been tested and proven inadequate. A number of papers have suggested alternatives but unfortunately none of them are satisfactory.

— AlpheccaStars

  • A number of papers have suggested alternatives but unfortunately none of them were satisfactory.
  • = The alternatives have been tested and proven inadequate.
  • A number of papers have suggested alternatives but unfortunately none of them are satisfactory.
  • = These alternatives do not fit the circumstances or conditions of this particular situation.
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

4 Answers
0
A number of papers have suggested alternatives but unfortunately none of them were satisfactory. = The alternatives have been tested and proven inadequate.

A number of papers have suggested alternatives but unfortunately none of them are satisfactory. = These alternatives do not fit the circumstances or conditions of this particular situation.
0
0
Thank you AlpheccaStars very much for answering my question.

Would it be okay to use this one?
A number of papers have suggested alternatives but unfortunately none of them have been satisfactory.
Thanks
Joe
0
0
AnonymousA number of papers have suggested alternatives but unfortunately none of them have been satisfactory.
No. Because someone might read it as the papers were defective. The ambiguity comes from the parallelism in tenses: "papers have suggested" and "none have been satisfactory."
0
0
Thank you very much for your reply You've been a great help.
Joe
0

Related Questions