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Both are/were writers

Posted by InJen · May 5, 2012 · 2 replies

Bertrand russell was a writer.

Nicolas Coleridge is a writer.

Both are/were writers.

In the 3rd sentence, could you tell me what tense should be used?

2 Replies

susan53

Neither. As Russell is dead and Coleridge is alive, neither verb is appropriate for both writers. So you'd have to change the sentence to eg BR was a writer and so is NC./ BR was a writer, as is NC.

InJen OP

Marvellous.

Thank you very much indeed.

I never thought of such a change.