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New2grammar Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

preventable energy crisis

0The global energy crisis that is affecting almost everyone is not an unpredictable issue. Most countries knew this day would come but decided to wait until it happens before taking any action. In my opinion, it would have been easily avoided if we'd started investing in alternative energy in the 80 or 90s -- at least the impact would have been cushioned significantly. In their fairness, I understand that it was less expensive to continue using the fossil fuels than investing in renewable fuels. Unfortunate, this preventable crisis has hit us ...sooner than most thought.02br
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00Are there any mistakes?02br
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00Thanks.0-
  

Top answer

02br 02br 01font 00The global energy crisis that is affecting almost everyone was not an unpredictable issue. Most countries knew this day would come, but decided to wait until it happened before taking any action. In my opinion, it would have been easily avoided if we had started investing in alternative energy in the 80s or 90s.

— Clive

  • 02br 02br 01font 00The global energy crisis that is affecting almost everyone was not an unpredictable issue.
  • Most countries knew this day would come, but decided to wait until it happened before taking any action.
  • In my opinion, it would have been easily avoided if we had started investing in alternative energy in the 80s or 90s.
  • At least, the impact would have been cushioned significantly.
  • In fairness to most countries, I understand that it was less expensive to continue using fossil fuels than to invest in renewable ones.
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8 Answers
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0Hi,02br
02br
00Here's what I'd say.02br
02br
01font00The global energy crisis that is affecting almost everyone was not an unpredictable issue. Most countries knew this day would come, but decided to wait until it happened before taking any action. In my opinion, it would have been easily avoided if we had started investing in al
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1font00The global energy crisis that is affecting almost everyone was not an unpredictable issue02font02br
02br
01font02font02br
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01font00Thanks you Clive. I have one question. Though I agree that 'was' is correct, I see no problem with 'is' which emphasizes
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0Hi,02br
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01font01b00Though I agree that 'was' is correct, I see no problem with 'is' which emphasizes that fact that the crisis is not an unpredictable issue - a statement. Could you briefly explain? I hope this is not a major mistake.02b02font02br
02br
00I changed 'is' to 'was' because we are now in
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0Consider that you are looking at two cars that collided 5 minutes ago.02br
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00This is a good example. But unfortunately, I'd say 'This IS an unpredictable accident" 05002br
02br
00My reasoning is as follows:02br
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00"This is an accident", describes what the event is. Unpredictable is just an adjective describing the accident,
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0Hi,02br
02br
00It sounds odd to say an event '01u00is02u00 unpredictable' after it has happened. 02br
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01font00Using 'was' is like saying "This was an accident" and it's not right because it's still a fact02font00 It will be a fact forever.02br
02br
002 cars collide a
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0This is getting more and more confusing to me. If you don't mind, let's drop the adjective unpredictable. I believe it doesn't affect your choice of verb. 02br
02br
00For some reason, the words there and this affect the tense. 01i00There02i00 paired with 01i00was02i00 is OK but 01i00This02i00 sounds better
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0Hi,02br
02br
01font00This is getting more and more confusing to me. If you don't mind, let's drop the adjective unpredictable. I believe it doesn't affect your choice of verb. 02font00It was using the word 'unpredictable' for a current event that I took issue with.02br
02br
00Generally speaking, I agree with your c
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1i00I can't imagine when I'd say "This was an accident". 01i00This02i00 and 01i00was02i00 just don't go well with each other.02i02br
00There is nothing wrong with:02br
00"This was an accident waiting to happen". - talking about a specific accident after it had happened.0-
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