Pesquise entre vários professores de Inglês...
Ilia Pim
IS/ARE DONE or WAS/WERE DONE? Are they interchangeable?
Hello.
Can I say, for example, about a movie
‘Cruella IS filmed by Disney’
or should I use
‘Cruella WAS filmed by Disney’?
Is it correct or not? I know that present tense verbs (is/are) in passive mean that the action is still happening. However, when we have the completed action we use past tense verbs (was/were) in passive.
Or am I wrong and you can use both interchangeably?
Another example is song by Nancy Sinatra “These boots ARE made for walking and that’s just what they’ll do, one of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you”
Why does Nancy says ARE MADE? She has these boots on her and they was made by their producers earlier in the past. We have the completed and finished action. Why don’t Nancy say These boots WERE MADE for walking?
Another example is “The palace was built with gold” but if the workers still build that palace we should say The palace is built with gold or The palace is being built with gold if they make it right now. Or I can use both was and is interchangeably?
25 de set de 2022 16:07
Respostas · 6
3
"The palace is built with gold" doesn't work because we're talking about the material with which it was "built" in the past. The act of building it is a completed event in the past. You can express a similar thought in the Simple present tense if you change the verb and preposition: "The palace is made of gold." Of course "is being built with gold" would work if we were talking about an action happening now.
"Cruella is filmed by Disney" doesn't work since the filming is a completed event in the past.
"These boots are made for walking" works since she talking about the purpose for which they were made. The purpose endures.
25 de setembro de 2022
1
Yes, with the Nancy Sinatra song, the same rules...
If you are in the process of making the boots, you can say "These boots are made for walking"
Past (boots have been made, finished product)...
These boots were made for walking
27 de setembro de 2022
Convidado
1
Hello! These phrases can be used interchangeably, in many cases. “Is/are made for” refers to the current state, use or situation.
“Are/ were built for” refers to the moment that the item was built/ constructed.
However, we would say that Cruella “was filmed…” because this action was taken in the past. It is not currently being filmed.
25 de setembro de 2022
Can use both. If Cruella is currently being filmed, you can say.. Cruella is filmed by Disney.
In the past (after its been made), Cruella was produced/made/filmed by Disney
27 de setembro de 2022
Ainda não encontrou suas respostas?
Escreva suas perguntas e deixe os falantes nativos ajudá-lo!
Ilia Pim
Habilidades linguísticas
Inglês, Russo
Idioma de aprendizado
Inglês
Artigos que Você Pode Gostar Também

How to Ask for a Raise or Promotion in English
9 votados positivos · 8 Comentários

The Key to Learning a Language Faster
31 votados positivos · 8 Comentários

Why "General English" is Failing Your Career (An Engineer’s Perspective)
30 votados positivos · 12 Comentários
Mais artigos
