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Debpriya De Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Past participle for habitual action
I have a question regarding the use of past participles ?
1. Do you have any idea about the difficulties faced by these men.
2. This is a well-oiled machine.
Does "faced" in sentence 1. refer to the habitual action of facing certain difficulties or does it refer to the facing of certain difficulties once in the past ?
Does "well-oiled" mean that the machine is in a "well-oiled" state at the moment or does it mean that the machine is oiled well regularly ?
1. Do you have any idea about the difficulties faced by these men.
2. This is a well-oiled machine.
Does "faced" in sentence 1. refer to the habitual action of facing certain difficulties or does it refer to the facing of certain difficulties once in the past ?
Does "well-oiled" mean that the machine is in a "well-oiled" state at the moment or does it mean that the machine is oiled well regularly ?
Top answer
Does "faced" in sentence 1. -- It could be either. - - It could be either.
- Does "faced" in sentence 1.
- -- It could be either.
- - - It could be either.
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3 Answers
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Does "faced" in sentence 1. refer to the habitual action of facing certain difficulties or does it refer to the facing of certain difficulties once in the past ?-- It could be either.
Does "well-oiled" mean that the machine is in a "well-oiled" state at the moment or does it mean that the machine is oiled well regularly ?-- It could be either.
Does "well-oiled" mean that the machine is in a "well-oiled" state at the moment or does it mean that the machine is oiled well regularly ?-- It could be either.
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Debpriya De Does "well-oiled" mean that the machine is in a "well-oiled" state at the moment or does it mean that the machine is oiled well regularly ?I think that it at least means that it runs smoothly at the moment. I don't think well-oiled implies anything about how often it is oiled, does it? You could argue though that for it to be called a wel
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The first answer to your question is correct, but I might add that, in your first sentence above, you could make a distinction between both suggested meanings, if the dontext doesn't help, this way:
To imply that these men faced some difficulties ONCE, use "those difficutlies," or "difficulties in question."
To imply that they are continuing difficulties, use "continuing di
To imply that these men faced some difficulties ONCE, use "those difficutlies," or "difficulties in question."
To imply that they are continuing difficulties, use "continuing di
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