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I've found these two sentences in newspaper headlines and there are two things I am not sure about:

  1. Haas beats Wawrinka
    Tommy Haas claimed the biggest win of the season against Wawrinka. He beats #3 in the World 5-7/ 6-2/ 6-3 and reach the quarterfinal in Rome. On the Foto is Tommy with a icepack after the match. Now he has 1.45 hours rest before the doubles start.
    Source

Do I understand it right that there could be has claimed but because of newspaper style—it is perfect to use shorter past simple? Is it the same like: Three people killed in a car accident? Present perfect would be possible as well but it would be too long for this purpose.

  1. Federer forgets he's won the match. source

This surprised me a lot. I thought it wasn't possible to use the present perfect in headlines.

  • Why do you think the writer decided to use that tense? Was it for emphasis?

For me it is an unusual combination to use the present simple (forgets) and then the present perfect in newspaper headlines. The first is used to keep headlines short; however, in this case it doesn't make sense as it is followed by the longer present perfect construction.

The last thing is that I am not sure whether it is possible to switch tenses whenever I want. I´ll give you an example:

Headline:

Federer beats Djokovic in the 2nd round

The article

Federer has been beaten by Djokovic for the third consecutive time and will not defend his Wimbledon crown. Djokovic beats him easily and didn't allow him any break.

The thing I am not sure about is whether journalists can switch from one tense to another, see the following example: "Djokovic beats.." or whether it is acceptable to do so only in the headlines?

Mari-Lou A
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TH92
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    related: Why is the present perfect used in headlines? – Mari-Lou A Nov 29 '15 at 12:19
  • Newspapers take considerable licence in the way they compose headlines. One requirement is to economise on words - so often they do not make grammatical sense.The simple present for something that has just happened is perfectly idiomatic anyway, in the context of a news report, especially a headline. – WS2 Nov 29 '15 at 12:43
  • After looking for the sources, none of them seem to me particularly reputable. The first has a number of other problems which puzzle me much more e.g. "on the Foto..." And I wouldn't call either of them newspaper articles, these are "news" written on the fly, with little pre-thought or reflection. The second "headline" is a tweet. – Mari-Lou A Nov 29 '15 at 12:44
  • also related: Why do newspaper headlines use strange syntax rules? and Does the present perfect imply an action finished in the past? – Mari-Lou A Nov 29 '15 at 12:53
  • @Mari-LouA Thanks Mari-Lou A - I don´t get it. Is it possible to use present perfect in the second example? Can I use present perfect when I am writing a headline - in combination with present simple? In the first example - can I take it the way that past simple "claimed" was used because of headline? Or is it situated too far that it can be considered to be a headline? – TH92 Nov 29 '15 at 19:58
  • The first headline is a bit of a mess, this is not good journalism "reach the quarterfinal" should be "reaches the quarterfinal" The next error, On the Foto should be "in the photo" but even that sounds clumsy, I would say "The photo shows Tommy with an icepack..." The second "headline" doesn't make sense, it should be something like: "Federer doesn't realize he's won the match"* – Mari-Lou A Nov 29 '15 at 21:20
  • The present perfect works here because as John Lawler says PP expresses "hot" news, it sounds more urgent, more dynamic. In any case, I don't believe the examples are written by real journalists, especially the first which contains so many basic errors. – Mari-Lou A Nov 29 '15 at 21:20
  • @Mari-LouA - Thank you very much. I don´t know whether it makes much sense to analyse sentence which is not written correctly but there is one more thing I am curious about - "Tommy Haas claimed the biggest win of the season against Wawrinka. He beats #3 in the World .... " Is it really possible and usual to use normal tenses like " claimed" and then continue by using "headline tense" =he beats - which I would expect to see in the headline only. Thanks – TH92 Dec 07 '15 at 08:25
  • I said: I don't believe the examples are written by real journalists, especially the first which contains so many basic errors Basic errors include the mixing up tenses; it should read "He beat the number 3 seed 5-7/ 6-2/ 6-3..." Beat is an irregular verb, it's: beat, beat, beaten. http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/irregular-verbs/beat.html – Mari-Lou A Dec 07 '15 at 08:43
  • @Mari-LouA It wasn´t the best example I could give you but it was meant to be in general. Let me give you another one: Headline: " Federer beats Djokovic in the 2nd round" The article " Federer has been beaten by Djokovic for the third consecutive time and will not defend his Wimbledon crown. Djokovic beats him easily and didn´t allow him any break." The thing I am not sure about is whether journalists can use "the headline tense" in the article (see the " Djokovic beats.." in my example) or just in the headline? Thanks! – TH92 Dec 07 '15 at 11:24
  • @Mari-LouA Ok. I have edited my original post. – TH92 Dec 07 '15 at 11:41
  • @Mari-LouA Ok, thank you. Do you think it is ok now? I am still learning how this forum works :) – TH92 Dec 07 '15 at 12:42
  • @Mari-LouA Would it be possible to help me with my last question about the switching of the tenses? Please :) – TH92 Dec 07 '15 at 18:06
  • Where did the article come from? I need to see it in its entirety. But the headline looks fine to me, typical journalistic style. Personally I wouldn't write: Djokovic beats him easily and didn't allow him any break. Both verbs should either be in the simple past or present simple. – Mari-Lou A Dec 07 '15 at 18:20
  • @Mari-LouA I created the sentences by myself. But I think you may have already answered the question. I wasn´t sure whether or not I could use that journalistic style for example in the middle of the article (after I had used "normal" tenses) - or whether it is possible to do so in the headline/ in the first sentences only. – TH92 Dec 08 '15 at 22:34

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