[General] Our English club meeting has been....

[Silverobama]

Today I met a friend Jack who I knew a year ago in a local English club meeting. The meeting was later stopped running because of the pandemic. Sam, a new participant, who didn't know this so he I said the following to him. The meeting was stopped in June 2020 and restarted this month.

Our English club meeting has been suspended for a year due to the pandemic.

Is the italic sentence natural?

 

[emsr2d2]

Today I met a friend, Jack, who [STRIKE]I knew[/STRIKE] used to come to our English club a year ago. [STRIKE]in a local English club meeting.[/STRIKE]

The meeting [STRIKE]was later[/STRIKE] stopped running in June 2020 because of the pandemic and has just restarted. Sam, a new participant, [STRIKE]who[/STRIKE] didn't know this so [STRIKE]he[/STRIKE] I said the following to him: [STRIKE]The meeting was stopped in June 2020 and restarted this month.[/STRIKE]

[STRIKE]Our[/STRIKE] We haven't had an English club meeting [STRIKE]has been suspended[/STRIKE] for a year, due to the pandemic.

Is the italic sentence natural?

emsr2d2

 

[tedmc]

The original sentence is okay too, isn't it? Using the plural (meetings) might be better I think.

 

[emsr2d2]

Saying "Our English club meeting(s) has/have been suspended for a year" makes it sound as if the person is announcing a suspension that's about to start. It would be improved by using "... suspended for the last year/the last twelve months".

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

. . . Our English club meetings have been suspended for a year due to the pandemic.

Is the italic sentence natural?

It's not one meeting. You have more than one meeting in a year. So it needs to be plural. They have all been suspended.

You could also say: Our English club has been suspended for a year . . . .

 

[GoesStation]

Now that the meetings have resumed, the suspension is in the past. You can't use the present perfect to describe it.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Now that the meetings have resumed, the suspension is in the past. You can't use the present perfect to describe it.

Thanks. I didn't notice that it's up and running again. Yes, it should be simple past tense:

- Our English club meetings were suspended for a year.

- Our English club was suspended for a year.

 

[tedmc]

Since the suspension has just been lifted (this month), I think the present perfect tense can be used.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Since the suspension has just been lifted (this month), I think the present perfect tense can be used.

Good thought.

 

[GoesStation]

The meeting was stopped in June 2020 and restarted this month.

Our English club meeting has been suspended for a year due to the pandemic.

Is the italic sentence natural?

Since the suspension has just been lifted (this month), I think the present perfect tense can be used.

It can't. The first post-suspension meeting has occurred, so the suspension is now in the past. That requires the past simple.

You could use the present perfect in a conversation taking place between the time the suspension was lifted and the first resumed meeting: Our meetings have been suspended for the last year, but they're starting again next week.