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Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

Present Perfect Tense and Present Perfect Passive

Hi everybody,
''I have seen the best minds of my generation have been destroyed by madness.''
Is this sentence true?
  

Top answer

I believe you want to know whether the sentence is correct English, not whether it is "true" (which would be hard for anyone to determine, at least without much more contextual information). The sentence is awkward to read because "the best minds of my generation" appears at first to be the object of "seen", and then the reader has to backtrack when this interpretation is found not to work. It is better to say ''I have seen that the best minds of my generation have been destroyed by madness", but a better sentence still (albeit slightly more direct) is ''I have seen the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness".

— GPY

  • I believe you want to know whether the sentence is correct English, not whether it is "true" (which would be hard for anyone to determine, at least without much more contextual information).
  • The sentence is awkward to read because "the best minds of my generation" appears at first to be the object of "seen", and then the reader has to backtrack when this interpretation is found not to work.
  • It is better to say ''I have seen that the best minds of my generation have been destroyed by madness", but a better sentence still (albeit slightly more direct) is ''I have seen the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness".
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6 Answers
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I believe you want to know whether the sentence is correct English, not whether it is "true" (which would be hard for anyone to determine, at least without much more contextual information).

The sentence is awkward to read because "the best minds of my generation" appears at first to be the object of "seen", and then the reader has to backtrack when this interpretation is found not to wor
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Thank youuu Emotion: smile But I can't understand. Can we reduce passive sentence? Because you reducedhave been.
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DevilJudasBut I can't understand. Can we reduce passive sentence?
The structure of the sentence is awkward.
Your sentence has two clauses. The first verb is not passive. (I have seen.)
The second clause could stand on its own as a main clause.
The best minds of my generation have been destroyed by madness.

As a clause, it can be reduced t
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Thank you so much Emotion: smile But I'm going to ask one more question
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DevilJudasThank you so much But I'm going to ask one more question Can we use two sentences?I have seen the best minds of my generation have been destroyed by madness.I have seen the best minds of my generation have been destroyed by madness.
This has already been answered. Two people have both said that the first is awkward and that the second is a better sen
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DevilJudasCan we use two sentences?
Yes.

I have seen (witnessed) it myself. The best minds of my generation have been destroyed by madness.
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