Shakespeare is/was a famous playwright.
Bob Watson
would be grateful for confirmation that:
Shakespeare was a famous playwright.
Shakespeare is a famous playwright.
are two grammatically and logically correct sentences.
Both the local librarian and my daughter felt that the second sentence
implied that Shakespeare was still alive whereas what I meant to imply
was that he is presently famous.
All the best,
Bob Watson
CyberCypher
news:MPG.1971287f8...@news1.on.sympatico.ca:
What you mean should be clear in context. The fact is that Shakespeare
is still a famous playwright, dead though he be. Many writers--
playwrights, novelists, poets--were famous when they lived but have now
become totally unknown except among the scholarly. For one of them it
is necessary to say "X was a famous playwright". The implicatiion "but
is now unknown" is not implicit in this sentence, but in the proper
context it would be.
Sentences can mean one thing in isolation, as the two sentences you
offer here, and quite another in context.
John Holmes
> I'm sure this is an FAQ (though I can't find it in my references) but
> I would be grateful for confirmation that:
>
> Shakespeare was a famous playwright.
> Shakespeare is a famous playwright.
>
> are two grammatically and logically correct sentences.
There's nothing wrong with the grammar of either.
>
> Both the local librarian and my daughter felt that the second sentence
> implied that Shakespeare was still alive whereas what I meant to imply
> was that he is presently famous.
Ask them to name five famous painters, and see if they mention any dead
ones. By their reasoning, someone who was, but no longer is, a famous
painter should not be on the list.
--
Regards
John
Gary Vellenzer
o...@home.ca says...
playwright".
Gary