tense switching

Question

0I have seen tense switching occurring many times when I don't see a good reason. I posted some of these sentences before and was told not to change tenses. Here's another sentence and it's from CNN. If you think the writer used it wrongly, could you please tell me what was in his head when he wrote that so I can at least understand what he/she was thinking.02br02br00South African police and military units 01b00raided02b00 three hostels Thursday in a clampdown on xenophobic attacks that 01b00have02b00 left more than 40 dead, authorities said.02br02br00Here's another.0100startclickprintexclude00&gt;02br02br00Police 01b00said02b00 42 people 01b00have02b00 been killed in the violence, which 01b00began02b00 last week in Johannesburg's Alexandra Township and 01b00has been02b00 concentrated in the city's poorest areas.02br02br00Thanks in advance!0-

Clive · Accepted Answer

0Hi,02br
02br
01font00I have seen tense switching occurring many times when I don't see a good reason. I posted some of these sentences before and was told not to change tenses. Here's another sentence and it's from CNN. If you think the writer used it wrongly, could you please tell me what was in his head when he wrote that so I can at least understand what he/she was thinking.02font02br
02br
01font00South African police and military units 01b00raided02b00 three hostels Thursday in a clampdown on xenophobic attacks that01b00 have02b00 left more than 40 dead, authorities said.02font02br
02br
00The raid was last Thursday. The deaths may or may not have occured before the raid. .02br
02br
00The reporter is considering the time that the authorities 'said ' this to be 'present time', because they probably said it very recently.02br
02br
01font00Here's another.startclickprintexclude00>02font02br
02br
01font00Police 01b00said02b00 42 people 01b00have02b00 been killed in the violence, which 01b00began02b00 last week in Johannesburg's Alexandra Township and 01b00has been02b00 concentrated in the city's poorest areas.02font00It's the same general idea here. The violence began last week. The killing and 'concentrating' have occured in the period from then up to the present time.02br
02br
00Let me know if you need more explanation.02br
02br
00best wishes, Clive0-

New2grammar · Answer

0Very clear to me! Thanks Clive. 02br
02br
00Can I say the following, I met an old high school friend at the grocery store yesterday. It has been 3 years since we'd talked. 02br
02br
00My understanding is this is wrong. It should be "It had been 3 years since we'd talked". Could it be correct, loosely speeking?02br
02br
00I need a third opinion.0-

CalifJim · Answer

0 01blockquote

01cite10New2grammar12cite10I need a third opinion.12blockquote

10 Well, I'll give you a second opinion and someone else can give you the third!02br
01i00I met an old high school friend ... yesterday. It had been three years since we'd talked. 02i00<< This is technically correct.02br
01i00I met an old high school friend ... yesterday. It has been three years since we've talked.02i00<< Acceptable to my ear, probably because yesterday is so recent that we can include it psychologically in the same broad present in which this conversation is occurring. This is nevertheless technically 'wrong'. But note that sometimes what is 'wrong' from a strict mathematical view of time relationships is quite idiomatic linguistically and psychologically. 02br
00However, my ear would 01u00not02u00 like this:02br
01i00That was the year I ran into an old high school friend -- 1995 I think it was. Anyway, it has been three years since we've talked.02i00 (NO! Here my ear would want 01i00had been02i00 and 01i00we'd02i00.) 02br
00CJ 0-

Optilang · Answer

0I can supply the third opinion - I agree with the second!! 0-

New2grammar · Answer

0Actually, the message was meant for Optilang in case s/he asked why I reposted the same question. Apparently, it was a bad joke.02br
02br
00Thanks, CJ for the Third opinion 050010id1

Optilang · Answer

0 Actually I didn't think it was a bad joke! I saw the funny side of it and was playing along! 0-

RayH · Answer

1blockquote

01cite10New2grammar12cite10Can I say the following, I met an old high school friend at the grocery store yesterday. It has been 3 years since we'd talked.12blockquote

10This doesn't sound right.02br
00How about "It's been three years since we talked."02br
00Or "It's been three years since we've talked."01blockquote

01cite10New2grammar12cite10It should be "It had been 3 years since we'd talked". Could it be correct, loosely speeking?12blockquote

10This seems OK to me. 0-

Kooyeen · Answer

1blockquote

01cite10CalifJim12cite11i10I met an old high school friend ... yesterday. It 11b10had12b10 been three years since 11b10we'd12b10 talked. 12i10<< This is technically correct.12br
11i10I met an old high school friend ... yesterday. It 11b10has12b10 been three years since 11b10we've12b10 talked.12i10<< Acceptable to my ear,12br
12blockquote

10Hi Ray,02br
00Jim already corrected N2G's sentence in his post, but maybe it wasn't so noticeable... So yeah, it won't be a bad thing to point it out, in case N2G didn't notice. 050010id1

New2grammar · Answer

0Thanks00, RayH and Kooyen for making sure. Yes. I noticed CJ changed it and no way my original sentence could be correct.02br
02br
0-

Marius Hancu · Answer

0See:02br
00 Verb Tense Consistency02br
0500230hrefhttp://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_tensec.html

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