Past, Present and Future

[IknowMe]

In STC thread1229-1355981 some discussion has come up about Santa's quote below.

Besides your own family and friends, whom do you recognize as the person whom the world would miss most at her/his passing?

What would be the best alteration to change this question to include everyone who has lived, is living or will live?

I've tried playing with would, will, did ex. but can't seem to find any word that includes the aforementioned group of people.

Wow, I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time.
I think I've forgotten this before.

 

[SantaMufasa]

I'll take a shot...With the least amount of structural change to my original statement, I assert the following could cover past, present, and future decedents:

Besides your own family and friends, whom do you recognize as the person whom the world will have missed most at her/his passing?

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[IknowMe]

will have", why didn't I think of that? Anyone else got a different approach.

With the least amount of structural change to my original statement

Definately ups the antie.


Wow, I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time.
I think I've forgotten this before.

 

[CajunCenturion]

First thing I would do is change is "whom do you recognize" to "who do you recognize".

==> What would be the best alteration to change
First, I would have to ask, "what alterations have already been made"? It's hard to decide which alterations to change without knowing the original alterations.

==> What would be the best alteration to change this question to include everyone who has lived, is living or will live?
The requirement "or will live" invalidates the question because you cannot recognize one who has not already been living. Further, given the intent of the question, I think "is living" also invalidates the question because as long as they're still alive, you won't be missing them. Therefore, I think the question calls for the present perfect tense, indicating an action (missing) which began in the past and still continues in the present.

I would rephrase the question as follows:
Besides family and friends, who do you recognize as the person whom the world has missed the most?

--------------
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[SantaMufasa]

First thing I would do is change is "whom do you recognize" to "who do you recognize".

I'll have to respectfully disagree, John. "Whom" is the direct object of the independent (restructured equivalent) clause, "You recognize 'whom'."


Please let me know if there is an assertion that negates my belief.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[Gooser]

Ups the ante, not the antie.

--Gooser

 

[CajunCenturion]

I'd have to disagree with myself too. 'Whom' is correct.


--------------
Good Luck
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[pinkgecko]

I don't quite agree with CCs rewording:

Besides family and friends, who do you recognize as the person whom the world has missed the most?

It seems to me that this wording indicates a cumulative feeling instead of a theoretical. In other words, someone who died earlier will have been missed more than someone who died recently, because there were more people to miss the person since their death.

Besides your own family and friends, whom do you recognize as the person whom the world will have missed most at her/his passing?

This one makes it sound like the person who we miss most at the time of their death, which I'm not sure is the intention, either.

That being said, I think the sentence has to be reworked.

Besides your own family and friends, which past or present person would the world miss most 2000 years after his/her death?

Feel free to rip it apart!

[blue]Never listen to your customers. They were dumb enough to buy your product, so they have no credibility. - Dogbert[/blue]

 

[kjv1611]

This one makes it sound like the person who[highlight]m[/highlight] we miss most at the time of their death, which I'm not sure is the intention, either.

Correction noted.



--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me