IS THIS WATCHTOWER PARAGRAPH GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT? (page 2)

White Dove

I think it is incorrect since the "Ancient Babylonians" is the subject and "believed" is the verb in this sentence. The rest is just filler to explain what they believed.

White Dove

"Believed" puts everything else in the past. Ancient puts things in the waaaaay past. My opinion.

daniel-p

Elsewhere, isn't "human affairs" the subject here? Even then, however, the line is still correct.

yadda yadda 2

Pathetic. There any real borg issues to moan about not nitpicking about imagined grammatical errors.

lifelong humanist

badboy

I think that both words could have been used and the reader would understand what is meant. If I'd written that sentence myself, I'd have used 'are' rather than 'were', too.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

Yes, it is technically correct. Wording seems a little odd.

The ancient Babylonians,for example, believed that human affairs are influenced by the stars and their movements.

The clause "that human affairs are influenced by the stars and their movements" is worded in a present tense (it was the current thinking in ancient time), while the sentence is in the past, "The ancient Babylonians believed..."

I didn't look up the context, but that would affect why they worded it that way. In a stand-alone sentence, I would have used something like:

The ancient Babylonians, for example, believed that the stars and their movements influence human affairs.

Clearing up the subject and object in the clause would be an improvement. "Could" or "would" can be added, along with other words to clarify the objective of the sentence.

Any other questions?

Class dismissed.

B the X ... is full of $h!t

steve2

Yes, the Watchtower's use of the present tense is correct. You can use the present tense if you are talking about beliefs or points of view.

WTWizard

Since the belief is ongoing (our lives continue being influenced by the stars, according to their beliefs), it is grammatically correct.

Now, is it factually correct? That is much more doubtful. And a hell of a lot more important.

Quandry

I would think that the tense should be followed all through the sentence, as in "believed" is past tense, so the other verbs pertaining to the Babyloninans should be. However, I am not an authority.

On whether they make mistakes-I remember an Awake magazine many years back with an illustrated cover showing a paramedic giving CPR to a patient while standing up. Someone sent in a question about this that was featured in the "questions from readers" later, and said it might be unusual, but some do it this way (so, still defending).

Of course, that is not related to grammer, but they obviously send some issues through without a complete "screening."

OUTLAW

BadBoy.. Were there any "Were`s" on Noah`s Ark? ...............LOL!!...OUTLAW

IS THIS WATCHTOWER PARAGRAPH GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT?

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