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I'm working on some company profiles. I am wondering about the tense of verb in this sentence:

  • The predecessor of company A is B.
  • The predecessor of company A was B.

Which is the correct one?

RegDwigнt
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Huyen
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  • Both are equally correct but mean completely different things. More context is in order to say anything definitely. Right now this is like asking whether "red car" or "blue car" is correct. It depends on whether you're talking about, well, a red car or a blue car. – RegDwigнt Jun 08 '14 at 09:18

1 Answers1

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"The predecessor of company A was B" is the logical choice if B is no longer in existence. If B actually still exists (for instance, because it has spun off company A as a subsidiary), then "The predecessor of company A is B" makes more sense -- though in this situation, an explanatory comment also seems called for.

Erik Kowal
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