ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: Quake in China

CalifJim — Mon, 12 May 2008 17:50:17 GMT

Anonymous
I would like to know why use "have killed " but not kill . What is the difference?

This type of snake is reported/said to kill elephants with its strong venom. (The report is that this type of snake does this killing of elephants regularly.)

This type of snake is reported/said to have killed elephants with its strong venom. (The report is that this type of snake did kill elephants on some occasion(s).)

A single unique event cannot be something that happens more than once, i.e., on a regular basis.

So it would make no sense to talk about a single earthquake that regularly kills at least 7,000 people. (*An earthquake is reported to kill at least 7,000 people.) It's like saying that yesterday's fire always burns the bank down, or that last month's flood always destroys 5000 acres of farm land.

Re: Quake in China

Grammar Geek — Mon, 12 May 2008 15:22:25 GMT

Hi Benny,

It's common in reporting information to use the present perfect if the news is VERY recent.

A month from now, you would certainly say "reportedly killed" instead of "is reported to have killed."

EDITED: A month from now, you probably know how many actually were killed, so you wouldn't say "reportedly," just "a powerful earthquake killed..."

Quake in China

Anonymous — Mon, 12 May 2008 15:10:58 GMT

Hi ,

Refering to the BCC news today, it say "A powerful earthquake is reported to have killed at least 7,000 people in China's south-western Sichuan province, up to 5,000 of them in just one county. "

I would like to know why use "have killed " but not kill . What is the difference?

Hope someone can kindly help with my Qs. THanks in advance

Benny