Leafy
New member
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2013
- Member Type
- English Teacher
- Native Language
- English
- Home Country
- United States
- Current Location
- United States
A Chinese-speaker wrote, '"I gained confidence, positive energy as well as the preserved healthy, supportive relationship with Jen." I suggested changing it to "I gained confidence and positive energy, as well as preserving my healthy, supportive relationship with Jen."
The writer explained that she sees this sentence as presenting a list of three nouns (confidence, positive energy, an intact or "preserved" healthy/supportive relationship) so no further verb is needed (i.e. the adjective "preserved" should not be changed to "preserving.") While I can easily explain the use of "intact" as a more appropriate adjective than "preserved," I don't know how to explain the use of the verb "preserving."
In my version, the sentence will newly contain TWO verbs, gained and preserving. Why does the second verb (preserving, in the present) not follow the same tense as the first verb (gained, in the simple past)? I would appreciate help in articulating a clear, defensible rationale for this new version of the sentence. Note that I do recognize the further alternative of "I gained confidence and positive energy, and preserved my healthy, supportive relationship" in which both verbs are in the simple past, but I want to better understand why the first alternative, using "preserving," is also correct.
Thanks for whatever insights and explanation you can offer.
The writer explained that she sees this sentence as presenting a list of three nouns (confidence, positive energy, an intact or "preserved" healthy/supportive relationship) so no further verb is needed (i.e. the adjective "preserved" should not be changed to "preserving.") While I can easily explain the use of "intact" as a more appropriate adjective than "preserved," I don't know how to explain the use of the verb "preserving."
In my version, the sentence will newly contain TWO verbs, gained and preserving. Why does the second verb (preserving, in the present) not follow the same tense as the first verb (gained, in the simple past)? I would appreciate help in articulating a clear, defensible rationale for this new version of the sentence. Note that I do recognize the further alternative of "I gained confidence and positive energy, and preserved my healthy, supportive relationship" in which both verbs are in the simple past, but I want to better understand why the first alternative, using "preserving," is also correct.
Thanks for whatever insights and explanation you can offer.