Some adults who had or have had ...
I have made up a sentence below.
(1) Some adults, who have had a difficult childhood, do not want to have children.
My non-native English speaking friends think I should use the simple past. Their revised sentence is given below.
(2) Some adults, who had a difficult childhood, do not want to have children.
Which tense is correct? Thank you for your help.
Top answer
The commas need to go: (1) Some adults who have had a difficult childhood do not want to have children. (2) Some adults who had a difficult childhood do not want to have children. I prefer (2).
- The commas need to go: (1) Some adults who have had a difficult childhood do not want to have children.
- (2) Some adults who had a difficult childhood do not want to have children.
- I prefer (2).
- This is because of the likely sufficient gap in time between their difficult childhood and the adult state that you are referring to.
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The commas need to go:
(1) Some adults who have had a difficult childhood do not want to have children.
(2) Some adults who had a difficult childhood do not want to have children.
I prefer (2). This is because of the likely sufficient gap in time between their difficult childhood and the adult state that you are referring to.
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