who is/was

[blouen]

* Who is the husband of Sarah?
* Who was the husband of Sarah?

* If she and her husband lived a long long time ago, surely their dead by now.

[riverkid]

Originally Posted by blouen

* Who is the husband of Sarah?
* Who was the husband of Sarah?

* If she and her husband lived a long long time ago, surely [their] they're dead by now.

In the situation you've described/you described, Blouen, normally we would chose the past tense 'was', but there are times when we might use the present tense even for those who are dead.

[blouen]

Originally Posted by riverkid

In the situation you've described/you described, Blouen, normally we would chose the past tense 'was', but there are times when we might use the present tense even for those who are dead.

Thanks for the correction, why did I mess that up.

Yes, I normally use the past tense but I´ve seen in funtrivia.com just recently that they ask questions like :

* Who is the father of Noah?
* Who is the 2nd wife of Abraham?

[weiming]

As in: "The late (deceased) Douglas Adams is a treasured English writer"?

[riverkid]

Originally Posted by blouen

Thanks for the correction, why did I mess that up.

No biggee/big deal, Blouen.

Because the two sounds are identical. Even native speakers sometimes mess up with 'there/their/they're'.

[blouen]

Originally Posted by weiming

As in: "The late (deceased) Douglas Adams is a treasured English writer"?

That I think of the fact that he is ¨a treasured English writer¨. You can´t change the fact that he is. Though time would pass us by.

But how about :

Abraham is the father of Isaac.
Abraham was the father of Isaac.

[blouen]

Originally Posted by riverkid

No biggee/big deal, Blouen.

Because the two sounds are identical. Even native speakers sometimes mess up with 'there/their/they're'.

Thanks, Riverkid!
But for accuracy´s sake, I´ll try not to do the same mistake next time.

[weiming]

[CAUTION: I am not a teacher:take the advice and or corrections offered in this post at your own risk.
If you doubt the information, please get a qualified opinion from one of the teachers on these forums.]

blouen>

Apply the same ingenious logic that you did to the first example, it depends on the perspective from which you are discussing Abraham.

Abraham is the father of Issac. (in the Bible/in history, which will not/cannot change)

Abraham was the father of Issac. (before he passed on)

[blouen]

Okay, now I get it. Thanks!