0

In my native language, the translation of the following a- and b-variants has the same meaning.
Tell me please whether they have difference in English or not.

britannica.com:
(1a) Many English words are derived from French.
(2a) The river derives its name from a Native American tribe.
vocabulary.com:
(3a) The present name derives from an older form.

my variants:
(1b) Many English words were derived from French.
(2b) The river derived its name from a Native American tribe.
(3b) The present name derived from an older form.

Is there any difference between the a- and b-variants?

Improve this question
18
  • 3
    If the words or names are used now in the present then they have current existence and we use the present tense about them. Your 'variants' are unnecessary.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Aug 7 at 8:44
  • 1
    Most people would understand, however changing it to past tense could imply that might no longer be the case - and adds ambiguity. "Many English words were derived from French, but are now derived from Spanish"
    – Smock
    Commented Aug 7 at 8:54
  • You should be able to validate your variants by using Google books, Ngrams, and dictionaries. Do you find any examples of "word was derived from"?
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Aug 7 at 9:10
  • 1
    The door is painted blue. The door was painted blue. They can have the same meaning in context but don't necessarily have the same meaning. The door could be red now. With the past tense were derived you could be speaking of French loan-words no longer in use, as about 25% of them are not. It depends on what you mean by "English words", and the past-tense begs that question.
    – TimR
    Commented Aug 7 at 10:03
  • 2
    I think you do have this ability, but maybe you just don't want to put in the effort? It's quicker if someone posts an answer, but more often than not, you challenge that answer, refusing to take it at its face value. Googling is the minimal means of research. I gave you a link which contains the phrase "word was derived" in published texts. Why shouldn't that resource help you reach a better-informed understanding? You could even quote one or two examples and ask "why" in those cases the past passive was chosen.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Aug 7 at 10:09

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

Yes, they do "have difference" inasmuch as the present tense version cannot be used in every context that the past tense version can, and vice versa.

The overwhelming majority of French words that were incorporated into English entered the language over the course of the Middle English period.

This sentence is OK:

Approximately 75% of the English words that were derived from French are still in use today.

But this sentence is somewhat confusing with the present-tense "are derived":

Approximately 25% of the English words that are derived from French are no longer in use today.

Of course one could construct a paragraph in which that sentence was not confusing, but having to do so amounts to a difference between the two constructions.

Improve this answer
2
  • You wrote the following sentence is somewhat confusing: "Approximately 25% of the English words that are derived from French are no longer in use today." Am I right that it's confusing because you perceive "are derived" as passive? That is, the active would be "someone derives 25% of the English words from French nowadays" the meaning of which is really confusing in terms of the whole sentence. But what if you perceived "derived from French" as the adjectival phrase which would describe a property of the subject "approximately 25% of the English words"? Thanks.
    – Loviii
    Commented Aug 8 at 7:11
  • @Lovii No. The confusion stems from the choice of tense. "English words that are derived from French" is followed by "are no longer in use". If you're going to be talking about something that took place in the past followed by something that has happened over the course of centuries resulting in the current state of affairs, it would be clearer to use "were....are" not "are....are".
    – TimR
    Commented Aug 8 at 9:57

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .