Comments on: p.295 (Chapter Ten)

By: CygnusX1

CygnusX1 — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 16:59:13 +0000

It is gramatically correct – of course. But you don’t usually hear it in -spoken- English, do you?
Some people don’t even use present perfect when talking

However, since we are not on our Earth, those are strange people with strange language and perhaps what’s not normal for us it is normal for them!

By: Elihias

Elihias — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 00:03:49 +0000

I don’t know a thing about pasts/futures/perfects… or Latin for that matter. I simply speak English, have done for 54 years.
Normal English,between strangers, on the high street…

‘They will have been taken by the Miesti’ looks fine to me.

Eli.

By: maximumparanoia

maximumparanoia — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 17:10:35 +0000

Also, isn’t it passive/active voice, with tense referring only to pluperfect/past/future and other time variations?

By: maximumparanoia

maximumparanoia — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 17:08:24 +0000

Passive is loved by me. I do technical writing some of the time. I don’t know of any good way to use active for some of the things that passive is really good for.

By: HardWearJunkie

HardWearJunkie — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 04:50:37 +0000

I tend to DESPISE the passive tense as a writer (and former Catholic English class student). I would write it the “active” way: “The Miesti took them.” It’s blunt, strong, and to the point with fewer words. This is a type of prose, so the passive could be a way for the Rebel Leader Dude (I keep forgetting names) to add compassion to a short confrontation. Also, I like Fred’s comment that the passive could be Carl’s translation.

We could diagram this all day till the cows come home, but it really is up to Tara and what she decides on…and we will LIKE IT!

By: David

David — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 11:36:12 +0000

Wait a moment, cookie. Isn’t “They have been taken by the Miesti” Past Perfect Passive. It seems to me that the Simple Past Passive would be “They were taken by the Miesti.”

By: Fred

Fred — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 07:40:28 +0000

It seems just right to me. Any awkwardness becomes part of the mystique of translating the Orehu language.

By: maximumparanoia

maximumparanoia — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 02:11:47 +0000

Future perfect passive is neither strange nor awkward. That may be the Latin nerd in me talking. Not that I have the best grasp of Latin either.

My level of excitement over the cited singing thing (none) is a poor metric as I am not a good sample as far as such things are concerned.

Astronauts have always had the same level of excitement. I recently saw a good presentation on Bob Kerr, et al.

By: cookie

cookie — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 21:10:40 +0000

For what it’s worth from a grammar nitpicking perspective, I agree with Tara’s original wording.

“They will have been taken by the Miesti” is the Future Perfect Passive. The Future Perfect expresses the idea that something will occur before another action in the future. It can also show that something will happen before a specific time in the future. It is passive because the action is performed on Aria and Zan by another party, the Miesti.

“They have been taken by the Miesti” is the Simple Past Passive. The Simple Past is used to express the idea that an action started and finished at a specific time in the past.

So given that we know Aria and Zan have been taken by the Miesti, the correct tense is Simple Past from our perspective. Given that the statement is made by Vanguarthe, he knows the action has either taken place or is about to take place. Thus, his use of the Future Perfect is more appropriate.

By: Kev

Kev — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 19:08:06 +0000

I like the original wording – it gets the point across