[Grammar] Tom is grateful that he is/has been/was admitted to the school.

Status
Not open for further replies.

kadioguy

Key Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2017
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Taiwan
Current Location
Taiwan
(My sentences)

a. Tom is grateful that he is (now) admitted to the school.

b. Tom is grateful that he has been admitted to the school.

c. Tom is grateful that he was admitted to the school.

d. Tom is grateful to be admitted to the school.

(The context: Tom has just got an e-mail with permission from the school.)

Which ones do you think are correct and natural? I am not sure about (a).
 
Last edited:

Charlie Bernstein

VIP Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2009
Member Type
Other
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
(My sentences)

a. Tom is grateful that he is (now) admitted to the school.

b. Tom is grateful that he has been admitted to the school.

c. Tom is grateful that he was admitted to the school.

d. Tom is grateful to be admitted to the school.

(The context: Tom has just got an e-mail with permission from the school.)

Which ones do you think are correct and natural? I am not sure about (a).
Hi, Kadio -

I'm not as picky about verb forms as some of the other advisors here. To me, they all make sense.

My favorite is b.

Let's see what others think.
 

kadioguy

Key Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2017
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Taiwan
Current Location
Taiwan
Hi, members

If you don't mind, could you please join this discussion? :)
 

jutfrank

VIP Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2014
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
They're all grammatical and natural but they obviously have different uses, since they use different tenses.

Which one is best depends on exactly what you want to focus on—present, past, or future.
 

Tarheel

VIP Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2014
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
(My sentences)

a. Tom is grateful that he is (now) admitted to the school.

b. Tom is grateful that he has been admitted to the school.

c. Tom is grateful that he was admitted to the school.

d. Tom is grateful to be admitted to the school.

(The context: Tom has just got an e-mail with permission from the school.)

Which ones do you think are correct and natural? I am not sure about (a).

I prefer b, c, and d in that order.

(I think you mean he got a notice, not permission.)
 

tedmc

VIP Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2014
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Malaysia
Current Location
Malaysia
(My sentences)

a. Tom is grateful that he is (now) admitted to the school. - implies that the admission happens now or today

b. Tom is grateful that he has been admitted to the school. - refers to the period of time since Tom was admitted to school

c. Tom is grateful that he was admitted to the school. - refers to the specific instance/event of Tom being admitted to the school

d. Tom is grateful to be admitted to the school. - a general statement which is not time-specific about Tom's admission

(The context: Tom has just got an e-mail with permission from the school.)

Which ones do you think are correct and natural? I am not sure about (a).

The above are my interpretations of the sentences.
 

kadioguy

Key Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2017
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Taiwan
Current Location
Taiwan
The above are my interpretations of the sentences.
Could you please help me with the last question? How can I understand the happen being in the present simple (rather than in the past)?
-------
a. Tom is grateful that he is (now) admitted to the school. - implies that the admission happens now or today
 

GoesStation

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
a. Tom is grateful that he is (now) admitted to the school.
I wouldn't worry about that one. The sentence is very unlikely. I can't think of a context where you might use it.
 

tzfujimino

Key Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2007
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
Japanese
Home Country
Japan
Current Location
Japan
"admitted" isn't an adjective (if you think it is), kadioguy.
 

kadioguy

Key Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2017
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Taiwan
Current Location
Taiwan
I wouldn't worry about that one. The sentence is very unlikely. I can't think of a context where you might use it.
In this context which one(s) will you use? If you don't mind, could please you tell me? :)

(The context: Tom has just got an e-mail with a notice from the school.)

a. Tom is grateful that he is (now) admitted to the school.

b. Tom is grateful that he has been admitted to the school.

c. Tom is grateful that he was admitted to the school.

d. Tom is grateful to be admitted to the school.

(Cross-posted with
tzfujimino)
 
Last edited:

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
I'd use b) in that situation.
 

GoesStation

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
C is also possible, but I agree that B is the most likely.
 

kadioguy

Key Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2017
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Taiwan
Current Location
Taiwan
They're all grammatical and natural but they obviously have different uses, since they use different tenses.

Which one is best depends on exactly what you want to focus on—present, past, or future.

jutfrank, could you please tell me in what use you think of (a) is grammatical and natural? (This is definitely the last question of the thread, please. :-?)
 

jutfrank

VIP Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2014
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
jutfrank, could you please tell me in what use you think of (a) is grammatical and natural?

(a) and (b) are much the same, since they both use the present tense to talk about Tom's current state.

I agree with the others that (b) is a more likely utterance. I can't easily think of a context where (a) would be preferable.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top