[Grammar] Join/Connect Tense

[learningspirit]

I have a question about the tense of the verbs "join" and "connect":

1. A side path joins/joined the main road.
2. A shared bathroom connects/connected to two bedrooms.

On a first reading, it seems that only the past tense of "join" and "connect" should be used, because the "joining" and "connecting" only happened once (at time of building. But google searches returned examples where the present tense is used. Could the present tense be sloppy usage?

 

[MikeNewYork]

Not only is the present tense not sloppy, I prefer it. The side path still joins the main road and the bathroom still connects to two bedrooms. Only when those conditions are no longer true, would I use the past tense.

 

[learningspirit]

But, don't "join" and "connect" mean, loosely, the one-time act of becoming together, not the state of being together?

 

[MikeNewYork]

Not in the present tense. If I say Highway 1 connects to Highway 4, is that a one-time act? That would make driving difficult.

 

[learningspirit]

If I write:

The cable connected to the TV.

, could there be, then, confusion about whether it was a one-time act of connecting or a past state of being connected ?

 

[MikeNewYork]

I don't think you are getting this. Is the cable still connected to the TV?