"Someone has passed away for X years"
Tacia
Does the grammar of "(to) die" apply to its euphemism "(to) pass
away"?
a. Her grandmother has passed away for X years.
b. Her grandmother has passed away over X years.
Is neither acceptable? I consulted my usage and grammar books, but
they do not have an entry about "pass away."
Please shed some light. =D
Best Wishes,
Tacia
Cheryl
I wouldn't use either. I would say "Her grandmother passed away X years
ago."
I could also say "Her grandmother has been dead for X years", which is
probably the sentence you are thinking about, but it just doesn't work
to say "Her grandmother has been passed away for X years". I think it's
because 'passed away' isn't an adjective and 'dead' is.
Some people just say 'passed', but I think that might be a regional
usage - I associate it with the US, but I may be wrong.
--
Cheryl
Marius Hancu
> a. Her grandmother has passed away for X years.
> b. Her grandmother has passed away over X years.
No.
They sound as though her death was extended for X years.
Marius hancu
Cece
>
> - Show quoted text -
"Passed" has been replacing "passed away" lately. I think it began in
the American South, but it is spreading.
John Kane
>
> Does the grammar of "(to) die" apply to its euphemism "(to) pass
> away"?
>
> a. Her grandmother has passed away for X years.
> b. Her grandmother has passed away over X years.
Again this sounds as if grandmother was dying for several years.
Her grandmother has passed away over X years ago
>
> Is neither acceptable?
This should probably be : Is either acceptable?
However strictly speaking, neither is acceptable.
John Kane Kingston ON Canada
Joe Fineman
> Her grandmother has passed away over X years ago
Omit "has". The present perfect is unidiomatic if the past time is
specified.
If you leave out "over X years ago", then "has" is right, but implies
that the death happened recently enough to be news.
--
--- Joe Fineman jo...@verizon.net
||: Who are the people most opposed to escapism? Jailers! :||
Peter Moylan
> Ladies and Gentlemen:
>
> Does the grammar of "(to) die" apply to its euphemism "(to) pass
> away"?
>
> a. Her grandmother has passed away for X years.
This means that she is now dead, but is expected to come back to life at
the end of X years.
> b. Her grandmother has passed away over X years.
This means that she took X years to die. I hope she didn't suffer too much.
> I consulted my usage and grammar books, but
> they do not have an entry about "pass away."
If you used "died" instead of "passed away" in the above sentences, they
would still be wrong in the same way.
--
Peter Moylan, Newcastle, NSW, Australia. http://www.pmoylan.org
For an e-mail address, see my web page.
Don Phillipson
> Does the grammar of "(to) die" apply to its euphemism "(to) pass
> away"?
Yes, more or less. People who use the verb "pass away" to
mean "die" usually use the identical grammar.
"John Kane" <jrkr...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:9fcc2284-e7a7-47c5...@a31g2000yqn.googlegroups.com...
> Her grandmother has passed away over X years ago
Most of us would avoid the sequence "away over," i.e. here
say she "passed away more than X years ago.
> > Is neither [version] acceptable?
"John Kane" <jrkr...@gmail.com> wrote
> This should probably be : Is either acceptable?
> However strictly speaking, neither is acceptable.
This sets much too high some sort of an undefined
standard. We know that lots of people truly believe
"Her grandmother died . . . " is (in the presence of family
members) either too cruel or too painful to be said.
That is why they use euphemisms.
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)
R H Draney
>
>On Nov 10, 12:17=A0pm, Cheryl <cperk...@mun.ca> wrote:
>>
>> I could also say "Her grandmother has been dead for X years", which is
>> probably the sentence you are thinking about, but it just doesn't work
>> to say "Her grandmother has been passed away for X years". I think it's
>> because 'passed away' isn't an adjective and 'dead' is.
>>
>> Some people just say 'passed', but I think that might be a regional
>> usage - I associate it with the US, but I may be wrong.
>
>the American South, but it is spreading.
Let me know when it reaches Bangalore...I had a hell of a time explaining to
someone that my dead mother wouldn't be providing them with an updated address
and that she probably wouldn't want to reinstate their service at any time in
the foreseeable future...no familiar term for "dead" is apparently taught to the
call-center people....
(I was *this* close to reciting the parrot sketch at them)....r
--
A pessimist sees the glass as half empty.
An optometrist asks whether you see the glass
more full like this?...or like this?
Steve Hayes
>Ladies and Gentlemen:
>
>Does the grammar of "(to) die" apply to its euphemism "(to) pass
>away"?
>
> a. Her grandmother has passed away for X years.
> b. Her grandmother has passed away over X years.
>
>Is neither acceptable? I consulted my usage and grammar books, but
>they do not have an entry about "pass away."
Neither is acceptable.
Her grandmother passed away X years ago.
is better.
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk
Steve Hayes
and that she'll be coming back when the period expires.
Tacia
Regards,
Tacia
Joe Fineman
> Let me know when it reaches Bangalore...I had a hell of a time
> explaining to someone that my dead mother wouldn't be providing them
> with an updated address and that she probably wouldn't want to
> reinstate their service at any time in the foreseeable future...no
> familiar term for "dead" is apparently taught to the call-center
> people....
In an official context like that one, I would think "deceased" would
be the natural term. That, at any rate, is what I would write on the
envelope if mail addressed to a dead person were delivered at my
house.
--
--- Joe Fineman jo...@verizon.net
||: The world is its own worst model. :||