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Anonymous Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
Tense question
Hi.
Most of the victims were on board the charter bus. Officials have not said which countries they were from.
In the second sentence, why do you say 'they were', using past tense for the verb? Like, don't you use 'they are' because their nationalities don't change?
Also, is it wrong to say "she didn't know he is a doctor", whe he is STILL working as a doctor? If you wanna say "at that time, he was a doctor(and he still is,) but she didn't know the fact(you're not sure whether she knows it or not now,) how do you say it?
Thanks, and RIP to the victims of today's Seattle bus accident.
Most of the victims were on board the charter bus. Officials have not said which countries they were from.
In the second sentence, why do you say 'they were', using past tense for the verb? Like, don't you use 'they are' because their nationalities don't change?
Also, is it wrong to say "she didn't know he is a doctor", whe he is STILL working as a doctor? If you wanna say "at that time, he was a doctor(and he still is,) but she didn't know the fact(you're not sure whether she knows it or not now,) how do you say it?
Thanks, and RIP to the victims of today's Seattle bus accident.
Top answer
When speaking of a dead person, one usually uses the past tense. The only examples of referring to the present tense are for famous inventors, where ‘historical present’ can be used. For example, Edison is credited with the discovery of the light bulb.
- When speaking of a dead person, one usually uses the past tense.
- The only examples of referring to the present tense are for famous inventors, where ‘historical present’ can be used.
- For example, Edison is credited with the discovery of the light bulb.
- In the second question, we are speaking of something that was factual at that time— regardless that he is still a doctor now.
- He could, for example, no longer be a doctor; but it is still true that ‘he was a doctor’.
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3 Answers
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When speaking of a dead person, one usually uses the past tense. The only examples of referring to the present tense are for famous inventors, where ‘historical present’ can be used. For example, Edison is credited with the discovery of the light bulb.
In the second question, we are speaking of something that was factual at that time— regardless that he is still a doctor now
In the second question, we are speaking of something that was factual at that time— regardless that he is still a doctor now
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It is reported speech, and we commonly shift the verbs from present to past tense in reported speech:
Officials said, "We don't know which countries the victims are from."
In this case, it is talking about what the officials have not said, so we cannot use the direct form as above.
Officials said, "We don't know which countries the victims are from."
In this case, it is talking about what the officials have not said, so we cannot use the direct form as above.
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Anonymousdon't you use 'they are' because their nationalities don't change?No, because that doesn't matter. It's more important to keep the story in the past if you start that way.
They were on board; they were from different countries; we don't know which countries they were from.
Anonymousis it wrong to
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