Was/is/has been assigned?

Question

Hi. Which is correct?1. He does almost all the homework that was assigned every day.2. He does almost all the homework that is assigned every day.3. He does almost all the homework assigned every day.4. He does almost all the homework that has been assigned every day.

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

All are possible. These are the most reasonable:

2. He does almost all the homework that is assigned every day.
3. He does almost all the homework assigned every day.

Anonymous · Answer

1. He does almost all the homework that was assigned every day.

This implies the homework used to be assigned every day, but now it is not. The two different tenses -- does (present) vs. was (past) -- makes the sentence sound awkward. If you are speaking of the past, it would be best to say, "He did almost all the homework that was assigned every day."

2. He does almost all the homework that is assigned every day.

This sounds fluid and preferable, if the intention is the present tense.

3. He does almost all the homework assigned every day.

Is the homework assigned every day, or does he do it every day? If the latter, the sentence could be corrected as "Every day, he does almost all the assigned homework."

4. He does almost all the homework that has been assigned every day.

Again, I feel we are mixing tenses. "He did... that had..." would be the preferred wording in my opinion. Otherwise, it seems a little emphatic, which would be diminuished by the word "almost" -- thus the contradictions make it awkward.

He does all the homework that has ever been assigned every single day.

If you are going for something dramatic, in that sense, you can use "has been assigned." Again, this implies the past tense.

There is no clear-cut answer. It depends on the tenses you are using and what exactly you are trying to convey. I hope this helped. Best of luck.

Was/is/has been assigned?

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