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Johnson13 Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
Beowulf is/was even older than Chaucer
A sentence: Beowulf is/was even older than Chaucer
I think both are correct, but I hope you can correct me if the reasons I give are wrong.
WAS can reasonably be used because Beowulf and Chaucer are(oh no, in this case I don't know whether I should use WERE) past things, so the simple past should be used.
IS can also be used because according to tradition in English literature, apart from describing the content of a book or literary work, which is a timeless framework that requires the simple present, even when we are describing events outside the content of the work but related to it eg the biography of the writer, and the actions of the writer like THE WRITER WRITES, SAYS etc, we can still use the simple present.
If I say anything wrong, could you correct me?
I think both are correct, but I hope you can correct me if the reasons I give are wrong.
WAS can reasonably be used because Beowulf and Chaucer are(oh no, in this case I don't know whether I should use WERE) past things, so the simple past should be used.
IS can also be used because according to tradition in English literature, apart from describing the content of a book or literary work, which is a timeless framework that requires the simple present, even when we are describing events outside the content of the work but related to it eg the biography of the writer, and the actions of the writer like THE WRITER WRITES, SAYS etc, we can still use the simple present.
If I say anything wrong, could you correct me?
Top answer
Johnson13 Beowulf is/was even older than Chaucer I would use is here, not was . I'm not sure how to view the original sentence, as Beowulf is a work and Chaucer is an author.
- Johnson13 Beowulf is/was even older than Chaucer I would use is here, not was .
- I'm not sure how to view the original sentence, as Beowulf is a work and Chaucer is an author.
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6 Answers
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Johnson13Beowulf is/was even older than ChaucerI would use is here, not was.
I'm not sure how to view the original sentence, as Beowulf is a work and Chaucer is an author.
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'Beowulf' is a literary work. Chaucer is the name of an author.
Thus, it makes no sense to compare their ages.
Say instead eg 'Beowulf' is even older than the works of Chaucer.
'Is' is fine. You are referring to how old these works ar
Thus, it makes no sense to compare their ages.
Say instead eg 'Beowulf' is even older than the works of Chaucer.
'Is' is fine. You are referring to how old these works ar
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It is fine to speak of Chaucer as a body of work. Beowulf can be older than Chaucer.
The verb is "is" because it is older now and always will be. Your reasoning that would permit "was" is perfectly sound, but it leads to a wrong conclusion anyway. That is because English doesn't work like that. Cain was older than Abel because they were alive at the same time. Adam was not older than Noah
The verb is "is" because it is older now and always will be. Your reasoning that would permit "was" is perfectly sound, but it leads to a wrong conclusion anyway. That is because English doesn't work like that. Cain was older than Abel because they were alive at the same time. Adam was not older than Noah
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I recognize that "Chaucer" can refer to the man or to his work.
Nevertheless, I am uncomfortable with "Beowulf is older than Chaucer" because it appears to compare the age of the work to the age of the man. There is at least the appearance of ambiguity there. I would not quibble with "Beowulf predates Chaucer by several centuries" or "Beowulf was composed hundreds of years before Chaucer" beca
Nevertheless, I am uncomfortable with "Beowulf is older than Chaucer" because it appears to compare the age of the work to the age of the man. There is at least the appearance of ambiguity there. I would not quibble with "Beowulf predates Chaucer by several centuries" or "Beowulf was composed hundreds of years before Chaucer" beca
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enoonIt is fine to speak of Chaucer as a body of work. Beowulf can be older than Chaucer.The verb is "is" because it is older now and always will be. Your reasoning that would permit "was" is perfectly sound, but it leads to a wrong conclusion anyway. That is because English doesn't work like that. Cain was older than Abel because they were al
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Johnson13were Adam and Noah in the same ageNo. Adam was the first man.
Johnson13does this AGE give rise to ambiguity as to mean ERA or HOW OLD A PERSON IS?)?No. 'In the same age' refers to a historical (or legendary) period.
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