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MrT Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
Present Perfect vs Past Simple
Hello there,
A, perhaps, simple question, but you can never be sure
Which tense would be more suitable in this context?
"I talked to Paul Newman and danced with Liz Taylor during the Oscar Gala". It's a pity they both died/have died."
Thanks for your comments in advance.
A, perhaps, simple question, but you can never be sure
Which tense would be more suitable in this context?"I talked to Paul Newman and danced with Liz Taylor during the Oscar Gala". It's a pity they both died/have died."
Thanks for your comments in advance.
Top answer
It's a pity they both died seems to imply that you're such a bad conversationalist and hoofer that your talking and dancing killed two famous actors. " Which implies that you have hallucinations, an active fantasy life, or a time machine. Here the present tense "are" means the ongoing state of their demise.
- It's a pity they both died seems to imply that you're such a bad conversationalist and hoofer that your talking and dancing killed two famous actors.
- " Which implies that you have hallucinations, an active fantasy life, or a time machine.
- Here the present tense "are" means the ongoing state of their demise.
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3 Answers
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It's a pity they both died seems to imply that you're such a bad conversationalist and hoofer that your talking and dancing killed two famous actors.
The simple answer to your simple question is a simple rephrase: "It's a pity that they're both dead." Which implies that you have hallucinations, an active fantasy life, or a time machine. Here the present tense "are" means the ongoing st
The simple answer to your simple question is a simple rephrase: "It's a pity that they're both dead." Which implies that you have hallucinations, an active fantasy life, or a time machine. Here the present tense "are" means the ongoing st
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Thanks for the reply. However funny it is, unfortunalety, the sentence comes from a coursebook and there are no other choices than those two given by me
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The full sentence is:
"I talked to Paul Newman during the Oscar Gala and danced with Liz Taylor during my summer holidays in Mexico.". It's a pity they both died/have died." (in bold to choose between).
"I talked to Paul Newman during the Oscar Gala and danced with Liz Taylor during my summer holidays in Mexico.". It's a pity they both died/have died." (in bold to choose between).
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