I am still fussy under what circumstances to use the verbs “is” and “was“. In order to use verbs in the past tense, how much time has to pass to use words in their past tense. Take these sentences for example. The first sentence uses the verb “is” in the present,and the second sentence uses the past tense verb “was.”

1. Sergio is at fault. People say he is responsible for
not taking care of his sick and elderly mother in her
last days of her life. He is going to be punish for his
inhumane treatment.

2. Sergio was at fault. People said he was responsible for
not taking care of his sick and elderly mother in her
last days of her life. He was punish for his inhumane
treatment.

In my last post I questioned why the newsanchor used the present tense verb “is” in the last part of the below sentence, “…refuse to accept Sanchez “is” at fault.,” if the accident already happen. I want know which verb, either is or was, is the correct one and why.

Heart-broken as the surveyed the crash site themselves, the teens who hope to be engineers themselves some day refuse to accept Sanchez is at fault.

Please give your own written version of this post.

Sparky
808 posts
Oct 04, 2008
3:45 PM

Mr. CEO, this is a tough question because it really can go either way.

Sergio is at fault / Sergio was at fault ... both are true. If it was Sergio's fault at the time, he is still guilty and always will be. The difference is in where we what to put emphasis.

"Sergio is at fault" is like saying "Sergio is a murderer." If it was true at one time it will always be true.

"Sergio was at fault" is like saying "Sergio caused the accident." He isn't still causing the accident. The accident is in the past.

"People say he is responsible for not taking care of his sick and elderly mother in her last days of her life." This is the same as "People say he is guilty of not taking care of his mother...."

"People say he was responsible for not taking care of his sick and elderly mother in her last days of her life." This is the same as "People say it was his responsiblity to take care of her at that time, and he didn't do it."

"He is going to be punished for his inhumane treatment." His punishment is in the future; it hasn't happened yet.

"He was punished for his inhumane treatment." His punishment has already taken place.

And by the way, note that "punish" is past tense either way.

Your last sentence is the same. "Sanchez is at fault"? "Sanchez was at fault"? Both are true. Both are correct.