From Study Hall November 18,2010

[AsadA969]

In 1987, Smith first observed that the Cuyahoga River WAS a full of pollution.
This is correct if the river is NO longer full of pollution.
The above sentence is the example of Present tense.

But, if the river is STILL full of pollution then what will be the tense of this sentence?
Thanks.

[RonPurewal]

In 1987, Smith first observed that the Cuyahoga River WAS a full of pollution.
This is correct if the river is NO longer full of pollution.
The above sentence is the example of Present tense.

But, if the river is STILL full of pollution then what will be the tense of this sentence?
Thanks.

in this particular context, you'd probably still want "was", because it's implausible that pollution is a permanent feature of the river.

consider that example vis-à-vis this one:
In 1987, Smith first realized that the Cuyahoga River freezes on exceptionally cold days.
––> this is a permanent, timeless fact about the river. thus, present tense.
for the same reason, things like "blood circulates through the human body", "the sun rises in the east", etc. are pretty much always going to appear in the present tense.

even if the river has stayed polluted for the last 27 years, that's still not a fundamental, timeless observation.

[RonPurewal]

another pair of examples:

Yesterday I realized that you are insecure.
––> present tense = this is a constant feature of your personality; it's a fundamental aspect of who you are. (i didn't know this about you until yesterday, though)

Yesterday I realized that you were insecure.
––> you were (temporarily) feeling insecure about something specific that was happening in your life.
even if you're still feeling insecure today, this is still the correct tense to use.

[RonPurewal]

... and this discussion should pretty much stop here, since there is no way it's going to maintain any relevance to the GMAT exam beyond this point.

[AsadA969]

Here the question:
“In 1987, Smith first observed that the Cuyahoga River WAS a full of pollution”.
Ron, you said:
“in this particular context, you'd probably still want "was", because it's implausible that pollution is a permanent feature of the river”.

No. I did not think that “pollution is a permanent feature of the river”. Actually, my question is that if the River STILL exists full of pollution then is the sentence correct? I mean IS THE SENTENCE EXAMPLE OF PAST TENSE?


Ron, you said:
example:
Yesterday I realized that you were insecure.
––> you were (temporarily) feeling insecure about something specific that was happening in your life.
even if you're still feeling insecure today, this is still the correct tense to use (my question: What is the name of the tense of this sentence?).
My question is : IS the sentence example of past tense?
Ron, I am sorry to bother you but I still want to learn.
Thanks

[RonPurewal]

i'm not sure whether i can improve upon those examples. i think you get the point.

"past tense" is just a name for the form of a verb. an entire sentence doesn't have a "tense".
yes, those verbs are written in the form called "past tense", but of course you knew that already. beyond that, there's not much more to say here.

be sure to focus on how the sentences work, NOT on terminology.

[RonPurewal]

also, this thread has progressed well beyond the point of usefulness on a GMAT forum. the GMAT exam tests only the basics of verb tenses; never in a million zillion years would it test something this subtle.

so, let's throw this thread on the pyre and call it a day, shall we?