nusmavrik wrote:
Hi Sarai
Now between A and D. The split is - in a period of time / at a time.
(A) In a period of time when women typically have -----> I think this is wordy. The author could have said "in times when"
(D) At a time when women typically
And tense issue :
A) In a period of time when women typically
have had......, Mary Baker Eddy
became a distinguished writer
A)- have had means present perfect. I don't see a reason why there should be a switch from present perfect to past. Present perfect may mean "just 2 minutes ago" but in the past nonetheless.
But there is 100% reason to couple "present perfect" with "present" e.g. a situation which started in the past continues in the present. E.g
Geologists
believe that the Bering land bridge, over which human beings are thought to
have first entered the Americas, disappeared about 14,000 years ago [geologists used to believe, they still believe and probably they will believe in the future - so we say "human beings have entered" present perfect]
But now see this example -
The success of the program to eradicate smallpox
has stimulated experts to pursue something they
had not previously considered possible-better control, if not eradication, of such infections as measles and yaws.(Source: GMATPrep)
It uses present perfect with the simple past - and the sentence is correct. So it means there can be different "time frames" in the same sentence, leading to different tenses - we just know about simple past + past perfect coupling but there are many more which are valid. Am I correct?? Pls provide your feedback.
Thanks
mavrik
SaraiGMAXonline wrote:
A tip on idiomatic usage of the prepositions in, on, and at:
In describing time, we would I was born "In 1980, in the spring, in May, on Tuesday, at 9:00," right?
Did you notice a pattern? As we move from in to on to at, we move from general to specific.
So use at to express specificity.
Other examples:
The unemployment rate is at 5%.
The students met at 252 Park Ave.
For all of you out there who are encountering difficulties with tenses--Tenses Tip:
Do not focus on the relationship between the verbs in different clauses. Look for the time modifier for each individual verb!!For example: It is perfectly correct to say,
1) I danced last night and will read tonight.
2) I have danced for the past ten years and read every day.
3) I have broken my leg and will not go to work next week.
...
Sentences like these could be created endlessly-- the tenses are entirely independent of one another. They key words/phrases that describe 'when' the action happened "last", "ago", "for ten years"... etc. are what determine the tense of any given verb. (They are called
'time modifiers'.)
Any time modifier that points to a specific point in time in the past (
'last', 'ago', 'in', 'on', 'at', 'when', 'until') indicates a need for the past simple.
Any time modifier that involves the present
('since', 'recently', 'lately', 'already', 'yet', 'always', 'never') indicates a need for the present perfect, which combines the present ('have'/'has') and past (V3).
"In a period" and "at a time" are both time modifiers indicating the past simple.
Hope that helps!
Best,
Sarai
For more on tenses, checkout SC Lesson 7 at gmaxonline!