Conversation started Jul 11, 2015 at 14:30.
Damkerng T.
Damkerng T.
Jul 11, 2015 14:30
1 hour ago, by Damkerng T.
@CopperKettle We can retest the commenter's judgement with something like this: Francis Ford Coppola is a filmmaker. He has directed Dracula.
I found a good way to check its acceptability...
Googling for "is a writer who has written the"
and compare that to "is a writer who wrote the"
The results support my first few hunches:
2 hours ago, by Damkerng T.
(Is it the only book he has written? Is there any other books? Is he still alive? Is this his biography? etc.)
2 hours ago, by Damkerng T.
nods -- I think this sounds better to me: "X is a writer. He has written A, B, C, and D. He lives in ..."
2 hours ago, by Damkerng T.
He has written Crime and Punishment has no time phrase, but "Crime and Punishment" is a definite entity.
So, even if the writer were still alive, the present prefect is probably less preferred.
Original:
2 hours ago, by CopperKettle
"Dostoyevsky is a Russian writer. He has written Crime and Punishment." - I wonder if this is okay.
 
Conversation ended Jul 11, 2015 at 14:36.