The function of ‘might have done’
Hello, everyone,
“The dynamics of collective detection have an interesting feature. Which cue(s) do individuals use as evidence of predator attack? In some cases, when an individual detects a predator, its best response is to seek shelter. Departure from the group may signal danger to nonvigilant animals and cause what appears to be a coordinated flushing of prey from the area. Studies on dark-eyed juncos (a type of bird) support the view that nonvigilant animals attend to departures of individual group mates but that the departure of multiple individuals causes a greater escape response in the nonvigilant individuals. This makes sense from the perspective of information reliability. If one group member departs, it might have done so for a number of reasons that have little to do with predation threat. If nonvigilant animals escaped each time a single member left the group, they would frequently respond when there was no predator (a false alarm). On the other hand, when several individuals depart the group at the same time, a true threat is much more likely to be present.”
I’d like to know why the author hasn’t matched the tense in the main clause with the one in the subordinate clause (simple present tense) in the underlined part. I guess only maybe he/she tries to emphasize with this past tense the fact that many reasons have already become partly known to the researchers, even though they haven’t become fully known to them yet.
I would appreciate your opinion.
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Top answer
If one member departs, it is gone. It has departed. ) There are several reason that may explain its departure.
- If one member departs, it is gone.
- It has departed.
- ) There are several reason that may explain its departure.
- In other words, it might have departed for any one of a number of reasons.
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If one member departs, it is gone. It has departed. (This is why the tense changes.) There are several reason that may explain its departure. In other words, it might have departed for any one of a number of reasons.
0deepcosmosIf one group member departs, it might have done so for a number of reasons that have little to do with predation threat.
deepcosmosI’d like to know why the author hasn’t matched the tense in the main clause with the one in the subordinate clause (simple present tense) in the underlined part.
See below.
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