A police officer found a body on a load, and the victim looks he was shot. The officer called paramedics, and the victim is now being operated on in a hospital.

This is a typical situation in a TV drama.
I usually hear that one of the victim’s family members receives a call from the police for the case and tell his other family members “○○ has been shot.”

The reason why he says “has been shot” instead of “was shot” is because his mind focuses on the case, not the fact that his family was shot. Am I correct?

Sometimes I wonder about this while watching a TV drama. :p

By the way my grammar correction app put the “on” right after “being operated” in the first paragraph. Why? :D

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Nikki_Jo

6 Feb 2022

Favorisierte Antwort

Englisch (US)

@Shibainue to be honest, I don’t recall the specific grammar rules. The reality is that when we speak we often don’t follow formal grammar rules. In TV writing, the writers will want dialog that sounds natural to the audience and prioritize that over complexly correct grammar. This is one reason why English is hard to learn. You’ll often find native speakers and writers violating the rules you study in language classes.

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Nikki_Jo

6 Feb 2022

Englisch (US)

It’s a difference between active and passive voice. In active voice the subject performs an action. Nikki shot the man. In passive voice the subject is acted upon. The man has been shot by Nikki. If you don’t know who did the action (unknown shooter) it’s common to use the passive voice to emphasize the object/person who was acted upon instead of the person who did the action. Sometimes passive voice is considered “nicer” and used to soften the blow. It’s more acceptable in some forms of writing than others,

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Shibainue

6 Feb 2022

Japanisch

Thanks :D

I mightn’t get what you mean:(
Let me try it again.

I meant focusing on present perfect (has been) and simple past tense (was).

If one got shot, it should be said as “He was shot” because the gunshot action already happened before, but drama characters usually say, “He’s been shot.”

The gunshot is a happening done by a second, but present perfect tense should be used for a certain period of continuous happening.

So I thought that is because the victim is still arriving injured, and the character who said the present perfect tense focuses on the gunshot case, not the happening itself.

Am I correct?