Re: This is the first time Hamas is running candidates for parliament.

Marius Hancu — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 20:32:42 GMT

Welkins2139 wrote:
Marius Hancu wrote:
Welkins2139 wrote:
According to Michael Swan, we use a simple present perfect tense in sentences like that.

Could you give some of Swan's examples?

This is the first time that I've heard her sing.

Page 424.

Indeed, it is there, in the past time (5): simple present perfect and simple past (advanced points) section/this is the first time, and it is correct, of course.

The use of the present perfect with this is the first time is the preferred one in the classical literature, but this doesn't eliminate the validity of sentences such as this one in The New York Times, which I'm sure has qualified editors:

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THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING; Marketers Follow the Flock to Spring Break

... . ''This is the first time that we're trying to capture the emotional ...View free preview

March 9, 2006 - By Julie Bosman (NYT) - Education - News
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See the present continuous in use, which, as I said in my first post in this thread:
gives one the feeling of participation to something still going on

Aperisic has provided convincing arguments in the above.

Re: Nuances between Modals

CalifJim — Wed, 09 Mar 2005 03:41:13 GMT

1) Do May / Might NOT (like CANNOT) express an interdiction = must not ?

ex: ?
["may not" and "cannot" and "must not" can be used to forbid, but not "might not" and "could not".

You [may not / cannot / must not / *might not / *could not] begin the exam before you are given the signal.

"could not", and less convincingly, "might not", can be used to report an act of forbidding in a subordinate clause. I would avoid "might not" in this context. It is too ambiguous in modern English, but you might find it in older literature with this meaning.

We were told that we [could not / ?might not] begin the exam before we were given the signal.]

2) Mrs James is in hospital and HASNâT BEEN ALLOWED TO have (and NOT âcould haveâ) a cigarette after her meals. (correct ?) [Yes. Or "is not allowed to have a ...]

3) What's the difference between possibility and probability ?

a) probability = near-certainty, action likely to happen;
b) possibility = doubtful situation, action less likely to happen ?
[If an action is possible, it just means that nothing is stopping it from happening, nothing physical and nothing logical. It says nothing about how likely (probable) it is that it will happen. It may happen once every 5000 years or it may happen once an hour. It may be an event that is very likely to happen or very unlikely to happen. The point is that it has some liklihood (big or small) of happening. It's possible.
If an action is probable, in my opinion it has better than a 50-50 chance of happening. We estimate that it is more likely than not to occur.]

4) In the following examples is the verb in the âing form considered a present continuous tense or a gerund? [I don't know. I suspect that it will depend on which reference you consult. I would consider it a present continuous tense.]

a) âWhere is John?â
âI don't know. He may BE READING in his room.
He may BE WAITING at the station.â

b) Where is John? I don't know. He may BE COMING tonight.

4) What does âCOULD + Bare infinitiveâ express ? Is it the same as âwould be able toâ (= present conditional) ? Should an if-clause be always be implied ?

ex: a) Iâm sure you COULD GET into university. = unrealized past action ? [No.] i.e. you were capable of / it was possible for you to enter university but you didnât ?? [No.] [It means, "I'm sure that you would be able to get into ... (if you tried / if you wanted to / etc.)"]

b) Iâm sure you COULD HAVE GOT into university. (correct sentence ? meaning ) [Correct. I'm sure that you would have been able to get into ... (if you had tried / etc.) (but we know that you didn't)]

c) Iâm sure you COULD get / WOULD BE ABLE TO get into university, if you applied. = improbable action in the present or future ? [Not improbable. Not to me, anyway. Especially with "I'm sure", which indicates certainty, of course.]

d) Iâm sure you COULD HAVE GOT / WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO get into university, if you had applied. = unreal past action ? [Yes. "Counterfactual".]

- Whatâs the difference between a) and c) then between b) and d)? [The difference is whether the condition expressed in the "if"-clause is implicit or explicit.]

5)a) A: That crime canât/could have been committed by my brother; he was abroad with his
wife at the time. [Either is OK.]

B: You MAY believe me. / You CAN believe me. (difference ?)

[With "may" there are two readings: 1. "It is possible that you [do/will] believe me", AND 2. literally, "You are permitted to believe me" -- but with the idiomatic meaning "I assure you that I am speaking the truth" / "Rest assured that you would not be wrong to believe/trust me". Of the two, I find the second reading a bit strained. The second reading belongs more properly, in my opinion, to "You can believe me."
With "can" there are also two readings that come to mind. 1. "It's up to you to decide whether you want to believe me (or not)". 2. "I assure you that I am speaking the truth" and all the others mentioned above for "may".
A lot of the interpretation will depend on context and even tone of voice and phrasing.]

You MAY be right (perhaps you are right, perhaps not) / You CAN be right (possible / correct ?)
[You [may, might, could] be right. I find it extremely difficult to contextualize "You can be right" in any but the most strained readings. I'd say it's just not used in the meaning you're thinking of. Still, there's " Everything is in flux. Circumstances are constantly changing. You can be right in the morning and wrong in the afternoon.]

b) He begins to wonder if the man might be some sort of a lunatic. (correct sentence?) [No, but not because of the modal. It should be, "He's beginning to wonder if the man might be ..."]
c) He began to wonder if the man might be some sort of a lunatic. [Correct.](difference with b) ?) [Just the obvious change of tense in the main clause.]

[The paraphrases are:

He is beginning to wonder if it is possible that the man is some sort of lunatic.
He began to wonder if it was possible that the man was some sort of lunatic. ]

CJ

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Re: This is the first time Hamas *is running* candidates for parliament.

THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING; Marketers Follow the Flock to Spring Break

Re: Nuances between Modals

Re: This is the first time Hamas is running candidates for parliament.