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ESL forum >
Ask for help > Grammatical Question
Grammatical Question
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t.javanshir
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Grammatical Question
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HI there,
In the sentence "The man who worked in the factory is my friend."
When we want to omit "who" , we say: "The man working in ..........."
right?
Now, suppose the sentence were: "The man who works in the factory is my friend."
Again the same system seems to apply: "The man working in ..........."
How can we distinguish between the past and present meanings here? I want to say that the man who "worked" but when saying the man "working" it could (but not necessarily) imply that he is still working?
Any idea? |
5 Jun 2013
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Apodo
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To be clear that he worked at the factory in the past you can say:
The man who worked in the factory is my friend." -Past tense - he no longer works there.
The man who was working
The man who used to work
The man working in the factory last month/ last year/ in August
You can �t omit �who � without giving another indication that �working � is in the past
The man who works in - Present tense -
The man working in... Present Tense |
5 Jun 2013
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eslberri
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The man having worked in the factory is my friend.
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6 Jun 2013
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amrodriguez
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I agree with apodo.You have to make clear that you are referring to the past ,using "who" or some kind of time markers,otherwise if you say " The man working...." always refers to the present. |
6 Jun 2013
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tonyking
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The expression indicating what has happened in the past is liek "The man having worked in the factory is my friend" and the one indicating what is happening at present sounds like "the man working in the factory is my friend".
Hopefully it helps. |
6 Jun 2013
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yanogator
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"The man having worked in the factory is my friend" is correct, but extremely formal-sounding. There is no natural-sounding way to say it without "who". We could say "The man formerly working in the factory is my friend", but it still sounds somewhat forced. Bruce
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6 Jun 2013
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Apodo
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The man, having worked in the factory all day, went home.
�having worked � means he still works there, he �ll be back tomorrow.
The man, having worked in the factory for 40 years, decided to retire.
�having worked � indicates he did it continuously until a certain point in time.
�Having worked � wouldn �t be used with �is my friend � |
6 Jun 2013
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