Friday, September 25, 2020

via Bill

 Nice:


Ginsburg is dead, now, so the verb tense should be changed from the present perfect ("has been") to the simple past ("was"), and "since 1998" should be changed to "from 1998 to this year."  Otherwise... heh.

Grammar note:  the present-perfect tense uses a present-tense conjugation of to have along with a past participle.  This tense is used when talking about a past event or situation that is connected to the present.  For example, when Grandma sees a grandchild after several years and cries, "My, how you've grown!", she's using the present-perfect tense to talk about the span of time from when she last saw her grandchild to the present moment:  from then to now.  Look at the difference between these two sentences and their respective verb tenses:

1. Since his inauguration, Donald Trump has started no new wars. (present perfect)

2. In 2005, Donald Trump bragged that money, fame, and power could lead to pussy-grabbing. (simple past)

See how the simple-past tense is used, in sentence 2, to describe something that happened in the past and is now over?  See how, in sentence 1, the sentence is talking about the time period extending from 2016 to now?  That's the difference between the simple-past tense and the present-perfect tense, and since Ruth Bader Ginsburg just passed away, her death mostly severs her connection to the present, which is why the verb in the above meme should be was and not has been.  (Ginsburg's rulings from the bench have implications even today, of course, so it's fine to write something like, "Ginsburg's rulings have had a lasting impact on American jurisprudence.")

WRONG:  Louis XIV has been the king of France. (implication = he's still king)

RIGHT:  Louis XIV was the king of France.  (i.e., he once was the king, but is no longer)

The present-perfect tense gets its name from (1) the present tense of the auxiliary verb to have, and (2) the notion that we're talking about a completed action:  the old meaning of perfect was "complete," i.e., needing nothing more—an idea that still lingers in the shadows today.  In talking about (2), we're talking about the verb's aspect, which has to do with how the verb expresses duration, completion, or some other dimension. A perfect tense is one possible verbal aspect. Other aspects include the simple and the progressive (or imperfect).  See this handy chart for more information.



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