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Jack112 Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

How to talk about the deceased?

0 1. I should like it to be the attitude of my great-great-grandmother, legendary devotee of the arts, who 01b00having had02b00 eight children. (What does this mean with 'having had' compared to the others?) 02br
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002. 1. I should like it to be the attitude of my great-great-grandmother, legendary devotee of the arts, who 01b00has had02b00 eight children. (Is 'has had' incorrect here? 'has had' = past to present.) 02br
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003. I should like it to be the attitude of my great-great-grandmother, legendary devotee of the arts, who 01b00had had02b00 eight children. (Is 'had had' here wrong? I'm saying the children are all dead?) 02br
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00Thanks. 0-
  

Top answer

' 02br 02br 002-- correct, if g-g-granny is still alive. 02br 02br 003-- It is either a superfluous use of the past perfect-- one 'had ' is sufficient if g-g-granny and/or her children have passed into the Great Beyond-- or it is again a fragmented sentence: '... who had had eight children 01b 00when she finally applied for the Child Tax Credit02b 00'.

— Mister Micawber

  • ' 02br 02br 002-- correct, if g-g-granny is still alive.
  • 02br 02br 003-- It is either a superfluous use of the past perfect-- one 'had ' is sufficient if g-g-granny and/or her children have passed into the Great Beyond-- or it is again a fragmented sentence: '...
  • who had had eight children 01b 00when she finally applied for the Child Tax Credit02b 00'.
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10 Answers
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01-- a fragmented sentence: '...who, having had eight children, 01b00finally sued for divorce02b00.' 02br
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002-- correct, if g-g-granny is still alive. 02br
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003-- It is either a superfluous use of the past perfect-- one 'had ' is sufficient if g-g-granny and/or her children have passed into the Great Beyond-- or it is again
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001-- a fragmented sentence: '...who, having had eight children, finally sued for divorce.' 12blockquote
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00For these, is there a difference in meaning between them? 02br
001. ...who, 01b00having had02b00 eight children, finally sued for divorce. 02br
002. ...who, 01b
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0#1 is an acceptable structure; #2 is not-- it has a compound finite verb with no conjunction. 0-
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1. She hasn't had a relationship in months. (Is 'hasn't' correct here? Bear in mind that she no longer exists. If not, what can I use to repplace 'hasn't' ? I have 'months' here? So am I left with only 'hasn't' ?)

2. She hasn't had a relationship in the last couple of months. (If you don't get what I'm trying to say in #1, this is what I mean. 'last couple of months'
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She's dead and, before she died, she hadn't had a relationship in months.
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What about this one:

1. She hasn't had a relationship in the last couple of months. (She is dead, is it possible to use 'last couple of months' with 'hasn't' ? 'Hadn't' doesn't work here?)
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She's dead, Jack; no present tense is appropriate for her volitional activities. 'Poor girl-- she hadn't had a relationship in the past several months.'
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Hi Mister Micawber,

I think you should have your own Forum called: "Finishing a Sentence Fragment". I would read it every day, especially since.
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Mister Micawber said:

#1 is an acceptable structure; #2 is not-- it has a compound finite verb with no conjunction.

Hi,

Has the following quotation,which is from the bbc news of today, also got a compound finite verb with no conjunction? Is it acceptable?

A report confirming IRA decommissioning has been completed has been given to the British and Irish governmen
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A report confirming IRA decommissioning has been completed has been given to the British and Irish governments at a meeting in Northern Ireland.

If your transcription is accurate, K.O., then it is a typographical error. Either (1) the writer changed thoughts in mid-sentence and has been completed should be deleted,
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