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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Is/Was Noted & Helpful
Below is an example of an exchange of postings in a forum.
Teacher: X is the answer to your question.
After a while, the student answers...
Student: OK, that is/was noted. That is/was really helpful.
1. Are both 'is' and 'was' correct for above?
2. If the student use 'is', does it mean he answered immediately?
3. If the student use 'was', does it mean it took a long while before he answered?
4. My problem is how do we know how soon is 'immediately' and how long is 'a long while'?
5. If my interpretations are incorrect, how are 'is' and 'was' different above?
Teacher: X is the answer to your question.
After a while, the student answers...
Student: OK, that is/was noted. That is/was really helpful.
1. Are both 'is' and 'was' correct for above?
2. If the student use 'is', does it mean he answered immediately?
3. If the student use 'was', does it mean it took a long while before he answered?
4. My problem is how do we know how soon is 'immediately' and how long is 'a long while'?
5. If my interpretations are incorrect, how are 'is' and 'was' different above?
Top answer
"that is really helpful" = stronger sense that is helpful now and will be helpful in the future "that was really helpful" = stronger sense that it was helpful in resolving an earlier problem "that is noted" = stronger sense that it is noted for current and future reference "that was noted" = stronger sense that it was noted and dealt with while tackling an earlier problem; seems a less likely thing to say and feels like it may anticipate a "but... )
- "that is really helpful" = stronger sense that is helpful now and will be helpful in the future "that was really helpful" = stronger sense that it was helpful in resolving an earlier problem "that is noted" = stronger sense that it is noted for current and future reference "that was noted" = stronger sense that it was noted and dealt with while tackling an earlier problem; seems a less likely thing to say and feels like it may anticipate a "but...
- )
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7 Answers
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"that is really helpful" = stronger sense that is helpful now and will be helpful in the future
"that was really helpful" = stronger sense that it was helpful in resolving an earlier problem
"that is noted" = stronger sense that it is noted for current and future reference
"that was noted" = stronger sense that it was noted and dealt with while tackling an earlier probl
"that was really helpful" = stronger sense that it was helpful in resolving an earlier problem
"that is noted" = stronger sense that it is noted for current and future reference
"that was noted" = stronger sense that it was noted and dealt with while tackling an earlier probl
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Thank you very much, Mr Wordy.
Would you say that if a problem is solved and you've completely understood it then it is more correct to say the following:
That is noted. That is really helpful.
Would you say that if a problem is solved and you've completely understood it then it is more correct to say the following:
That is noted. That is really helpful.
00
If the reply was helpful in solving a problem that is now solved, completed and done with, then "That was really helpful" seems more likely.
Logically I suppose we should have "That was noted" to match "That was really helpful", but it doesn't seem to work like that, and in fact "That was noted" does not seem a particularly natural thing to say in the situation you d
Logically I suppose we should have "That was noted" to match "That was really helpful", but it doesn't seem to work like that, and in fact "That was noted" does not seem a particularly natural thing to say in the situation you d
00
Thank you, Mr Wordy, for that clarification.
Suppose the problem is about grammar and it is now solved and I know it can be very helpful to me in the future. Do you think "Thanks, I've noted that; it is really helpful" is the more appropriate to say in the original exchange?
Or "Thanks, I've noted that; it was really helpful" is still more likely and
Suppose the problem is about grammar and it is now solved and I know it can be very helpful to me in the future. Do you think "Thanks, I've noted that; it is really helpful" is the more appropriate to say in the original exchange?
Or "Thanks, I've noted that; it was really helpful" is still more likely and
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AnonymousSuppose the problem is about grammar and it is now solved and I know it can be very helpful to me in the future. Do you think "Thanks, I've noted that; it is really helpful" is the more appropriate to say in the original exchange?
Or "Thanks, I've noted that; it was really helpful" is still more likely and more natural to say since, I think, it really do
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OK, thank you very much. This is all clear to me now. 
Incidentally, is the contraction of "it was" also "it's
Incidentally, is the contraction of "it was" also "it's
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AnonymousIncidentally, is the contraction of "it was" also "it's", the same as "it is"?No, "it's" means "it is" or "it has". There is no contraction of "it was".
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