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Language past parfect tense

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Language past parfect tense

by src_saurav » Thu Jun 18, 2015 8:03 am
Cajuns speak a dialect brought to southern Louisiana
by the 4,000 Acadians who migrated there in 1755;
their language is basically seventeenth-century French
(to which has been added English, Spanish, and Italian
words.)


(A) to which has been added English, Spanish, and
Italian words
(B) added to which is English, Spanish, and Italian
words
(C) to which English, Spanish, and Italian words have
been added
(D) with English, Spanish, and Italian words having
been added to it
(E) and, in addition, English, Spanish, and Italian
words are added

I did not understand why present perfect tense is needed here.There is no indication of an action beginning in the past clearly. Have been added means it started in the past and completed in
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by MartyMurray » Tue Jun 23, 2015 11:17 am
Maybe the following explanation will answer your question.

A) This is easy to eliminate because the singular form has does not agree with the subject English, Spanish and Italian words.

B) Once again, is does not agree with words.

Two down, three to go, at least we can hope that the question is well enough constructed that that will be the case.

C) This makes sense. The verb have agrees with words. Also, it makes sense that words have been added over time, and potentially are still being added even today.

So C looks as if it's going to be the answer.

D) This is saying pretty much the same thing as C, but D is more awkward and does not make as much sense somehow.

E) In this one are does agree with words. So the type of subject verb agreement issue we saw in other choices is not present in this choice. However, this choice does not make as much sense as choice C. What the sentence seems meant to convey is not that the words are added, as in now, they are added. That does not really make sense. It's that they have been added.

So I am going with C.
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