atw: Particular past tense


-----Original Message-----
From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
pfagan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, 26 April 2007 3:10 PM
To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: atw: Particular past tense

I have noticed how common it has become in this country for police and
other emergency personnel to a use a particular past tense when
describing
events to the media. Example:

"The driver has lost control of his truck and he's ended up in a creek.
He's got out of the cab and tried to swim for it but he's caught his leg
in a snag. He's yelled out and fortunately some local kids have heard
him.
They've run for help..."

Rather than:

"The driver lost control of his truck and ended up in a creek. He got
out
of the cab and tried to swim for it but caught his leg in a snag. He
yelled out and fortunately some local kids heard him. They ran for
help..."

Can one of our esteemed grammarians (Michael Lewis?) please tell me the
name of this tense? Would anyone like to speculate as to why it has
become
common usage when describing such events and offer an opinion as to its
appropriateness?

My limited research says:

Use the past tense ("The driver lost control") for the immediate past
and
the past perfect tense ("The driver had lost control") for the less
immediate past. So what is the status of "The driver has lost control"?

Peter Fagan

**************************************************
To post a message to austechwriter, send the message to
austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

To subscribe to austechwriter, send a message to
austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "subscribe" in the Subject
field.
I don't know whether this is correct but my impression about the present
perfect continuous is this:

The perfect aspect has two aspects so to speak: it indicates complete
action just as the past tense does but it also implies a reference point
which is always after the completion or commencement (when combined with
continuous) of the action. Obviously, only the second aspect applies
when the perfect is combined with the continuous because the action is
still happening at the time of the reference point.

I've put the reference point in brackets below.

I'd been writing for hours [when John suddenly appeared].
I've been working for hours [now].
I'll have been travelling for 4 years [before I get to Alaska].

Regards,
Petra

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This e-mail and any attachment to it are intended only to be 
read or used by the named addressee. It is confidential and may contain legally 
privileged information. No confidentiality or privilege is waived or lost by 
any mistaken transmission to you. The RTA is not responsible for any 
unauthorised alterations to this e-mail or attachment to it. Views expressed in 
this message are those of the individual sender, and are not necessarily the 
views of the RTA. If you receive this e-mail in error, please immediately 
delete it from your system and notify the sender. You must not disclose, copy 
or use any part of this e-mail if you are not the intended recipient.
**************************************************
To post a message to austechwriter, send the message to 
austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

To subscribe to austechwriter, send a message to 
austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "subscribe" in the Subject field.

To unsubscribe, send a message to austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 
"unsubscribe" in the Subject field.

To search the austechwriter archives, go to 
www.freelists.org/archives/austechwriter

To contact the list administrator, send a message to 
austechwriter-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
**************************************************

Other related posts: