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I'm trying to tell to someone know that some text file is lacked with some words. so I trying to say as the below but I'm not sure which one is correct between

1.please update the update.txt file which has lacked with the below words.

2."please update the update.txt file which have lacked with the below words

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  • "has lacked with" is not grammatical. The verb is simply "lacks". The file lacks (or "is missing") the words below.
    – TimR
    Commented Oct 12, 2018 at 11:07
  • There is no reason to use perfect tenses. At the moment it is missing words, so present tense is fine. "Please update the update.txt file which lacks the below words." If the missing words are right below this statement, then "words below" might be better.
    – user3169
    Commented Oct 13, 2018 at 0:19
  • @user3169 Would you let me know more? why there is no reason to use perfect tense?
    – Carter
    Commented Oct 13, 2018 at 4:28
  • That's a huge topic. You might start here: Present perfect. Basically, "The present perfect is a grammatical combination of the present tense and perfect aspect that is used to express a past event that has present consequences". All we know from your statement is that the file lacks some words now. On the other hand, "I have added 15 new words over the last few days." is OK because it connects past actions to the present state of the file.
    – user3169
    Commented Oct 13, 2018 at 17:00
  • @user3169 Actually, I already knew that the file is modified before 2 day ago. so The reason of why I use the present perfect is that that file has modified over the last few days ago. and when I analysis that file now, I realized that the file has lacked with some words.
    – Carter
    Commented Oct 14, 2018 at 5:55

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As noted in the comments, "lack with" is ungrammatical. Don't use it. "Lack" is a verb. "Has lacked with" and "have lacked with" are equally incorrect.

In my opinion you should leave out "lack" altogether. In AmE, "lack" has a somewhat emotional connotation that sounds odd when applied to a computer file. "Missing" is more neutral.

Please update the update.txt file, which is missing the following words.

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  • Why should I have to use the simple tense not present perpect tense?
    – Carter
    Commented Oct 15, 2018 at 0:15
  • @Carter it is a description of something that is happening in the present. The words are missing at the time you are writing.
    – shadowtalker
    Commented Oct 15, 2018 at 13:33

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