How do you make this past tense sentence into present tense?
"His possessions are destroyed."
Would it be:
"His possessions is destroyed."?
The word, "is," is present tense but, "destroyed" is still in past tense.
2007-12-18 11:16:07 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
That sentence is "passive voice" which means that his possessions didn't do anything, but something was done to them.
The only way to make it more present than it already is is to say:
"His possessions are being destroyed."
(Like right now it's happening.)
The reason your sentence appears "past" is because the destruction already happened.
But technically it's a present tense sentence, and the participle "destroyed" is functioning as an adjective to explain how his possessions look NOW.
2007-12-18 11:33:26 · answer #1 · answered by topink 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
"His possessions are destroyed" is a present tense sentence. "Destroyed" is an adjective, not a verb, in that sentence. "Are" is a present tense verb. Possessions is a plural noun, so "is" would be incorrect.
"His possessions were destroyed" is a past tense sentence.
2007-12-18 19:24:56 · answer #2 · answered by MarianariaBibliotecaria 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It seems to me that you've already got a present tense sentence here since it describes a present state of being.
"Destroyed" functions as an adverb in the context of this sentence.
2007-12-18 19:26:12 · answer #3 · answered by Richard B 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
His possessions are destroying
2007-12-18 19:25:23 · answer #4 · answered by TI 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
His possessions is destroying.
2007-12-18 19:21:14 · answer #5 · answered by mendozagirl 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
his possessions are being destroyed as we speak.
2007-12-18 19:41:19 · answer #6 · answered by darvosix 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋