Friday 1 April 2016

grammar - Choice of tense to describe continuing status of an object

Part of your confusion here, I suspect, has to do with the fact that tickets are sometimes spoken of as things that get closed by people ("the ticket was closed" or "the ticket has been closed") and sometimes as things that close of their own accord ("The ticket has closed").



Ticket #123 opened on 01/01/2014 is closed on 02/02/2014



"narrative style|historical present". Two people are looking through data forensically, following the trail of information, and speaking of the past using the present tense, as if they were there, "reenacting" the events as they happen.



Ticket #123 opened on 01/01/2014 was closed on 02/02/2014



Simple past. A discrete action in the past.



Ticket #123 opened on 01/01/2014 has closed on 02/02/2014



Ungrammatical, IMO. It should be either
"was closed on 2/2/2014" OR "has (been) closed" (without the date).



Ticket #123 opened on 01/01/2014 has been closed on 02/02/2014



Ungrammatical. "on 02/02/2014" should not be present.



Ticket #123 opened on 01/01/2014 had closed on 02/02/2014



Makes sense only if the ticket was reopened.



Ticket #123 opened on 01/01/2014 had been closed on 02/02/2014



Makes sense only if the ticket had been reopened.



ADDENDUM:



Why is this statement ungrammatical?
Ticket #123 opened on 01/01/2014 has closed on 02/02/2014



The time-element in a present perfect statement (e.g. "has closed") must be indefinite, that is, it must be a form (implicit or explicit) that is analogous to either "recently" or "occasionally|on occasion".




Are you hungry?



CORRECT: --No, thanks, I've eaten (I have eaten).



INCORRECT: No, thanks, I've eaten this morning. (I ate this morning).



In the US, we have these shops where you can order coffee prepared in many different ways.



CORRECT: -- Do you think I'm from Mars? I know what a coffee-shop is! I've been to coffee shops before.



INCORRECT: I have been to a coffee shop on 02/02/2014.


No comments:

Post a Comment