Emperor penguins lost their ability to fly a long time ago. They compensated/compensate for this by being superb swimmers.

[vpriest]

Hi!!

Sentence: Emperor penguins lost their ability to fly a long time ago. They compensated/compensate for this by being superb swimmers.

Question: Should it only be "compensated" because "this" is the loss of the ability as opposed to the inability to fly?

Thank you!

 

[emsr2d2]

Have they lost the ability to compensate?

 

[vpriest]

Have they lost the ability to compensate?

I thought that the loss of the ability to fly, not the inability to fly, only happened once in history, so compensating only needed to happen once for the loss.

Are both tenses accepted in this situation? I ask because I remember that the past tense does not necessarily mean that it does not happen again.

Thank you.

 

[emsr2d2]

The present tense is used to express a general fact. Every single time the penguins swim superbly, they are compensating for the fact that they can't fly.

 

[vpriest]

If that's the case, am I to understand that "the loss of the ability to fly" equals "the inability to fly" in this case?

The penguins compensate for the loss of the ability to fly by being good swimmers.
Every time they swim superbly, they are compensating for the loss.

Thank you!

 

[Rover_KE]

What’s the source of that sentence, vpriest? I can’t help feeling that statement applies to all species of penguins.

 

[emsr2d2]

It's from an ESL book.

That's not sufficient. When we ask for the source, we need the title and the author. It's a copyright issue.

 

[vpriest]

That's not sufficient. When we ask for the source, we need the title and the author. It's a copyright issue.

Oh, I misunderstood what sentence you guys were referring to. I made those.

Only the sentences in the first post share some similarities in terms of grammatical construction. When I wrote them, I made changes so they are different as well.
The sentences in other posts are all mine.

 

[Rover_KE]

Reread post #8, please.

 

[vpriest]

I just edited my reply to post #8.