Re: tense for verb to be

Dan Leifker wrote:
BH wrote:
"Einstein is a genius" "Einstein was a genius"

In almost every case it would have to be "was a genius", but when
reading what he wrote, you're reading his words and they are being read
in the present,l so it's not abnormal or logically incorrect to say
"Einstein is a genius", just as we can always say "Einstein says that
....." when it's perfectly clear that he is dead said it long ago.

How about when the verb follows another verb?

(a) Columbus proved the world was round.
(b) Columbus proved the world is round.

(a) sounds more natural to me, but it lightly hints that the world
stopped being round at some point. (b) sounds more correct but also
more stilted. Is one preferred in careful writing?

Both are perfectly correct, natural, and idiomatic. The only native
anglophones who never use the (a) option are those who are unaware of
the optional backshift rule in English that allows one to use the
simple past tense for a habitual truth, which is normally expressed in
the simple (habitual) present. Which option one chooses is a matter of
style and, therefore, personal taste as well as the larger context.
Anyone who understands the the grammar and semantics of the (a) option
knows full well that there is no implication that the world stopped
being round. Bringing that up is a red herring: it's counterintuitive
and counterfactual because we know that the world is round as well as
we know that the sun always rises in the east, and yet it is perfectly
normal for literate anglophones to say "He said that the sun rose in
the east" as well as "He said that the sun rises in the east".

Neither one is preferred in careful writing unless the context
suggests that one is better or clearer than the other. OTOH, every
individual writer, speaker, and editor has their personal preference
for this kind of sentence, so the other correct answer to your question
is "Yes, one is always preferred by sombebody or other in careful
writing. Evidence of that preference is the choice of 'is' versus
'was'. My preference is no evidence that the vast majority of careful
writers agree with me (as many will disagree with my choice of 'agree'
versus 'agrees' in this sentence)".

--
Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor.
Cynical by nature, by habit, and by choice.
Native speaker of American; posting from Taiwan.
"It has come to my attention that my opinions are not universally
shared; ergo, they are not in the public domain." Anymouse.
.

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