I found these sentences in a grammar book:
They're building a new hospital. It will be finished soon.
I'm wondering, since the simple tense means completion, can we say
They're building a new hispital. It will be built soon.
instead?
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what simple tense are you talking about? There is a future passive "will be built"– James KJun 7, 2022 at 5:46
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@JamesK Yes, the future simple passive. As I know we can say "It will be built" only about objects that will be finished. That's why I've asked this question.– IlyaTretyakovJun 7, 2022 at 6:42
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1 Answer
"be built" is quite vague, it can mean it has not started building or is close to finishing the building. Meanwhile "be finished" means it is close to being finished. So I would rather stick with "be finished" here.
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Thanks! Is it grammatically wrong to use the option with "be built"? As I know we can say "It will be built" only about objects that will be finished. E.g. It was built two years ago. = It was finished two years ago. Jun 7, 2022 at 6:45
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1No it is not grammatically wrong to use it, it just a little vague, so you can use it @IlyaTretyakov Jun 7, 2022 at 6:48
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2It was built two years ago doesn't necessarily mean that the construction was finished exactly two years ago; the work could have been going on for part of the year before last. Jun 7, 2022 at 7:50
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1"It was/will be built" means that the construction took place/will take place. When speaking of an older building, "It was built in 1960" probably means that it was completed in that year. However, for a recent or current project, 'being built' may well refer to the ongoing work rather than the completion. Jun 7, 2022 at 13:02
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1Oh, dear - this is very hard to explain! In this case, you would probably say I did some work on the model ship that I'm building. Jun 7, 2022 at 16:08