[etni] Fw: Fw: grammar question

From: "Ask_Etni" <ask@xxxxxxxx>
To: "ETNI" <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 2009 18:15:20 +0200
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Reuben" <mreuben@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: grammar question

David says, "The discovery of America is a one-time action. Once it is
discovered it can't be discovered again."

But Moses says, "I think there must be something wrong with me..."Yesterday
I ate a meal"....unfortunately, I repeated the experience, which must
explain my weight!"
He also says. :"It is also extremely difficult for me to define "recent".
For example, I suddenly came upon an amphitheater and some baths in
Caesarea. My gut response was, "Wow! The Romans have been here too!""
Hence, I prefer to teach the past simple in terms of very old-fashioned
terminology: The Historical Past, or Past Historical. The time of the action
is either known or implied. So, since Everybody knows (doesn't he?) when
Brown lived and worked (even if very vaguely), or when the Romans conquered
Britain, we use the Historical Past.
"Of course, if the action is not complete, we use the progressive, which is
used where there is even the remotest possibility that the action can be
terminated / changed. Hence, I would hope that you "called" and not "were
calling" for the ambulance when I "was dying" and not "died". Or, for that
matter, when I want to chat up a Swedish (oops) blonde (oops again, very
non-PC) on the beach in Eilat, I might ask her, "Where are you living?",
since it is not her Swedish address that is of interest to me. I would also
fire the English-speaking doctor who visits me daily as I lie on my hospital
bed and asks "How do you feel today", since his question implies the
impossibility of a change in my condition."
On that cheerful note,
Hag Sameach

Reuben


David wrote:
> The correct answer is "wrote".
> The way I explain it to my classes is that the Past Simple
> denotes a one-time action done in the past that cannot be
> continued. Dan Brown wrote the Da-Vinci Code -- he is alive,
> there is no specified time, however, he cannot write the Da
> Vinci Code again. He has the ability and the opportunity to
> write other books but not this specific one.
> One of the examples I give is "Columbus discovered America in
> 1492." We analyse this sentence in class and find that there
> are 3 reasons why this sentence has to be in the Past Simple;
> a) Columbus is dead and can't do anything anymore.
> b) A specific time is given -- 1492.
> c) The discovery of America is a one-time action. Once it is
> discovered it can't be discovered again.
> The only way a one time action could be in the Present Perfect
> is if this tense is used to denote recent past. Imagine the
> court of King Ferdinand in 1492. A courtier runs in and says
> excitedly. "Listen everybody, Columbus has just discovered
> America!"
> (Pardon the anachronisms here.)

You wrote:
> While other people are helping all of us with what really
> matters, such as > HOTS, CDs, and payment issues,
> here I come to this list again with another
> "trivial" question about the "present perfect". I wouldn't be
> asking if I understood the answer given in the answer
> key of the grammar book I'm taking
> my question from. Thank you in advance for giving this time
> and thought.
> Question: "wrote" or "has written" (and why)
> Dan Brown ....................... "The Da Vinci Code". I
> haven't bought it yet.
> I say the answer is "has written" because there is no
> specification of pasttime. Right? Why is this different
> from "I have seen that movie?"



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[etni] Fw: Fw: grammar question

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