Hey, I read an article about the New Zealand earthquake. I have some questions about some tenses... may you can explain it to me?
Firstly, "has declared" is in the present perfect... what about ordered? Is it the simple past or did they just cross the has and it's the present perfect, too? Why did they use the present perfect here? Is it because the state of emergency is still declared NOW/ peope are still there NOW?
What does the present perfect implies here? That it's may not the definite number? may more people died...?
They start out with the simple past here (toppled, collapsed) and then they switch to the present perfect (has collapsed) and back to the simple past again (showed). Why did they do that? Why didn't they just use the simple past for every sentence? What's the meaning?
Thank you for helping me!
The mayor of Christchurch, Bob Parker, has declared a state of emergency and ordered people to evacuate the city centre. "Make no mistake this is going to be a very black day for this shaken city," he said.
Firstly, "has declared" is in the present perfect... what about ordered? Is it the simple past or did they just cross the has and it's the present perfect, too? Why did they use the present perfect here? Is it because the state of emergency is still declared NOW/ peope are still there NOW?
At least 65 people have died and more than 100 are missing after a powerful earthquake struck the southern New Zealand city of ...
What does the present perfect implies here? That it's may not the definite number? may more people died...?
The spire of the city's well-known stone cathedral toppled into a central square, while buildings collapsed in on themselves and streets were strewn with bricks and shattered concrete.
The multi-storey Pyne Gould Guinness Building, housing more than 200 workers, has collapsed with an unknown number of people trapped inside. Television pictures showed rescuers, many of them office workers, dragging severely injured people from the rubble.
They start out with the simple past here (toppled, collapsed) and then they switch to the present perfect (has collapsed) and back to the simple past again (showed). Why did they do that? Why didn't they just use the simple past for every sentence? What's the meaning?
Thank you for helping me!