[Grammar] about the usage of already and past participle

[dracularking]

1. this is from an article of
Fish Smell Badly in More Acidic Oceans - Scientific American


Rising levels of carbon dioxide are already souring the world's oceans.

why can "already" be used in present continuous?

i searched in many dictionaries, found that there's no such usage.


2. Heavier particles drop out first, but about five times further out than had been previously predicted.

here why does it use past participle? shouldn't it be the simple past tense? because drop is the present tense. thanks.

 

[Raymott]

1. Why should 'already' not be used with the present continuous?
"Scientists say that carbon dioxide will warm the Earth, but that is already happening."
You didn't find that there was no such usage. What happened was that you didn't find an example of that usage. This is not surprising, since dictionaries are primarily books that give definitions of words, not usages.

2. They could have used the simple past "was predicted". Certainly "had been previously predicted" is wordy; they could have omitted 'previously'. But it's hard to argue the case without the complete context. "Previous" to what, for example. Another point is that although the first clause is in the present simple tense, that is the "timeless" usage of the tense. They have obviously obviously observed the particles dropping (in the past), and the predictions were made before that.

 

[bhaisahab]

Please correct the information in your profile, dracularking. You are not a speaker of Afan from Aaland.