ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: "...has been to give us..."

Marius Hancu — Thu, 15 May 2008 11:19:45 GMT

to give as any infinitive or participle or gerund is atemporal

thus the tense is given by has been, perfect present

Peaceblinkfriend — Thu, 15 May 2008 11:00:52 GMT

but then what tense is 'has been to give' ?

Thanks

PBF

Marius Hancu — Thu, 15 May 2008 10:49:49 GMT

***The achievement has been providing/giving you with an understanding. [to be avoided

Peaceblinkfriend — Thu, 15 May 2008 10:35:58 GMT

Thank you for your reply Jim but I don't really understand what you mean. Could you explain a bit more, please?

Thank you again

PBF

CalifJim — Thu, 15 May 2008 07:15:54 GMT

No. That would make it seem as if the achievement has been doing some giving. You need to block that interpretation. Do you understand what I mean?

Peaceblinkfriend — Thu, 15 May 2008 07:11:54 GMT

One of the greatest achievements of chemistry has been to give us an understanding of fundamental laws that describe the way matter changes.

Would the sentence sound better if it read "...has been giving us..." instead?

Thank you

PBF