Doubts about the most corret and appropriate expression

[dilodi83]

There's a terrible stench of fish going off (I mean it hasn't gone off yet)/ of fish gone off (I mean it has already gone off)/ of decayed fish (I mean it is a state of decay).

Are they all possible?

[susiedq]

I think the issue is the verb tense.

Can you see how the verb tense tells exactly what you want to say:

There will be a stench of rotten fish.

There's going to be a stench of rotten fish.

There is a stench of rotten fish.

There was a stench of rotten fish.

There has been a stench of rotten fish

[dilodi83]

I think the issue is the verb tense.

Can you see how the verb tense tells exactly what you want to say:

There will be a stench of rotten fish.

There's going to be a stench of rotten fish.

There is a stench of rotten fish.

There was a stench of rotten fish.

There has been a stench of rotten fish

Thanks so much for stating your point of view; actually I was wondering about the collocation that best fits with fish...do you think only "rotten fish" sounds good? What about the three I have suggested above?

[dilodi83]

Any other helpful explanations, please?

[Rover_KE]

Fish that's going off has an unpleasant smell.

Fish that's gone off has a bad smell.

(There is no definitive cut-off point between the two states of 'offness' - it's a continuous process. In both cases you would not eat it.)

Rotten fish has a stench of putrefaction.

Rover