Present Tense

[muskrat]

What is the difference between

I have had a cold for two weeks

and

I have a cold for two weeks

What is the active voice of

Smoking has been shown to be dangerous for peoples health

Thanks!!!

[riverkid]

Originally Posted by muskrat

What is the difference between

I have had a cold for two weeks

and

I have a cold for two weeks

The difference is we don't use the present simple to discuss lengths of time.

We can of course say,

"I have a cold"

because the present simple describes a state, and these states are thought of in English as "timeless". When we want to discuss the amount of time, the length of time that something has been going on, we use present perfect.

I live in Bangkok. I've lived there for 3 years.


What is the active voice of

Smoking has been shown to be dangerous for peoples health

Though we can put the sentence above in the active voice, it wouldn't [necessarily] be that natural. For one thing, I don't know for sure who the subject would be.

Scientists/Researchers/People/Doctors/Health care professionals have shown that smoking is dangerous to peoples' health.


Thanks!!!

You're welcome, Muskrat.

[Soup]

I have had a cold for two weeks. continuity
I have a cold for two weeks.
I have a cold now. at the present time

Smoking is dangerous for your health.

[riverkid]

Originally Posted by Soup

Smoking is dangerous for your health.

Soup,

Does your example, above, illustrate the active form of the one copied below?

Smoking has been shown to be dangerous for peoples health

[mykwyner]

Riverkid is (as usual) correct. The smoking sentence is not passive voice. In the passive voice, the subject is moved to a prepositional phrase (usually) at the end of the sentence.

The boy saw the dog. active

The dog was seen by the boy. passive

[albertino]

We have one slogan in our campaign against smoking here:
"Smoking is hazardous to health."