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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Tenses possible with sentences with the conjunction "since"
Hi. Please help. I am wondering what tenses other than the present perfect tense could we use with sentences that have the subordinate conjunction "since" used as a time reference. Could we use past tenses? Present tenses? Any others possible?
Is this correct?
Since that event, one message rang clearly to everyone's heart, and that was to do what is right. (It would seem awkward, if not wrong to write, "Since that event, one message has rung clearly to everyone's heart, and that was to do what is right.")
I think these are correct. If these are correct, could you tell how these could be correct? Is there some sort of test we can apply to get an idea as to whether this sort of sentences with the conjunction "since" are correct or not?
He is/was happy since he came home two years ago.
Is this correct?
Since that event, one message rang clearly to everyone's heart, and that was to do what is right. (It would seem awkward, if not wrong to write, "Since that event, one message has rung clearly to everyone's heart, and that was to do what is right.")
I think these are correct. If these are correct, could you tell how these could be correct? Is there some sort of test we can apply to get an idea as to whether this sort of sentences with the conjunction "since" are correct or not?
He is/was happy since he came home two years ago.
Top answer
For me, "has rung" suggests that the ringing (to everyone's heart) has continued into the present. "Rang" implies that it has probably stopped by now. He has been happy since he came home 2 years ago.
- For me, "has rung" suggests that the ringing (to everyone's heart) has continued into the present.
- "Rang" implies that it has probably stopped by now.
- He has been happy since he came home 2 years ago.
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3 Answers
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For me, "has rung" suggests that the ringing (to everyone's heart) has continued into the present. "Rang" implies that it has probably stopped by now.
He has been happy since he came home 2 years ago.
He has been happy since he came home 2 years ago.
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Hi. Thank you. Please tell me why it would be correct for the former example sentence to have/use two tenses, present perfect and past, whereas for the latter example sentence, it would be only correct to have/use the present perfect tense (if I read your response correctly)?
(former example sentence)
Since that event, one message rang/has rung clearly to everyon
(former example sentence)
Since that event, one message rang/has rung clearly to everyon
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English, unlike many other languages, doesn't normally allow for the use of the Present tense when an event or action/state started some time in the past and has continued into the present. This sort of makes sense, because many other languages don't have an equivalent of the Present perfect tense so they sometimes use the Simple present instead of the Present perfect.
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