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with a repertoire ranging from Baroque to the Avant-garde
taken all together and aufgehoben...
Feb 19, 2008 06:15
16 yrs ago
English term

simple or perfect?

English Art/Literary Linguistics grammar
Whatever research on Jack London’s life or works **might be pursued**, whatever new biographic facts or documents **might be found**, everything was regarded as just another confirmation of his Marxist views – or wasn’t regarded at all.


Dear English speaking colleagues!

Please advise on the tense here - which should I use, simple or perfect? I mean, would "might have been found" or "might have been pursued" be better, probably? I'm not really sure...

This is an article about literary criticism in the Soviet Union.
Responses
5 +5 might HAVE been found/pursued
1 +3 past
4 past subjunctive?
Change log

Feb 19, 2008 06:26: Mark Berelekhis changed "Field" from "Other" to "Art/Literary" , "Field (specific)" from "Other" to "Linguistics"

Responses

+5
10 mins
Selected

might HAVE been found/pursued

"Might be" could technically be misconstrued as something that may yet take place, regardless of the fact that many readers nowadays might not even know the century London lived in.
Peer comment(s):
agree Ghyslaine LE NAGARD
2 mins
Thank you, NewCal.
agree Marie-Hélène Hayles : "might be" would be OK as new research on JL may still be conducted in the future, however the "everything WAS regarded" makes it clear that we're talking about past research here...//Also agree with Jim's comment though//yes, agreed
1 hr
Thank you, Marie-Helene. I do not disagree with that, and my reasoning was the past tense that follows this idea and the fact that 'might've been' stresses this point.
agree Jack Doughty
1 hr
Thank you, Jack.
neutral Jim Tucker (X) : "might be" for "might have been" is more common in BE, and you will find it used today in formal or elevated prose. It's a good option here because much less cumbersome. Cf. "Try as he might, he couldn't find her"
1 hr
Jim, perhaps, but another major reason why I liked "might've" is that it emphasized the point better. Please see Marie-Helene's comment to Vladimir's answer.
agree Vicky Nash
10 hrs
Thank you, Vicky.
agree V_Nedkov
4 days
Thank you, V_N.
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you very much for your help Mark! Thanks everybody!!!"
+3
10 mins

past

In case you're using things like "everything was regarded", I'd think the past tense should fit, although the use of passive is not very welcome.

So I guess "were pursued" and "were found" might get in here...

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Note added at 19 mins (2008-02-19 06:35:42 GMT)
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Or even past perfect
Peer comment(s):
agree Jim Tucker (X) : yes (though "was pursued" rather than "were") - the other "might be" construction is just cumbersome and distracting here, though it serves as the equivalent of "might have been" in BE of the earlier 20th century
1 hr
Yes, sure, thanks! 'twas my last post before I hit the sack / packed in last night, sorry. Thanks, Jim!
agree Mark Nathan : "whatever research was pursued, whatever new documents were found, everything was..." Using "might" in the past sounds wrong to me - "whatever they might have found" = "whatever they found"
3 hrs
Absolutely. Thank you, Mark!
agree Ken Cox : Personally, I'd word it as 'No matter what research... was pursued or what... were found, ...
3 hrs
That's what I was kind of hinting at - some rewording might help :-) Thank you, Ken!
neutral Marie-Hélène Hayles : Neutral because to me this option detracts from the impact of the sentence. Might be/might have been gives (me) the impression of an idée fixe which no amount of actual or potential research could possibly change.
4 hrs
I don't think it does. But, on the other hand, I'm speaking grammar, rather than psychological impact. ;-) Thanks, Marie-Hélène!
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16 hrs

past subjunctive?

isn't it expressing the conditional mood of what might be found then in the future, esp. as it's followed by "everything was"? "Might have been found/pursued" would express things that had already taken place.

Sorry if this duplicates any other comments.

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Note added at 16 hrs (2008-02-19 22:42:43 GMT)
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future or as time went by

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Note added at 16 hrs (2008-02-19 22:50:47 GMT)
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or rather, hypothetical mood
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