I, many times, hear like this.
Assume that we modified a file (ex: Word doc) and this action is 100 per cent complete.
After that we tell, “The word file is modified.”
The action - Modification - was happened in the past and finished 100 per cent.
But, we are telling “The word file is modified”, which is wrong.
We have to tell “The word file was modified”, which is correct, instead.
For many things I hear this type of sentences. Very confusing thing this is.
Is this just an usage?
Hi sureshvemuri,
If I understand your question correctly, I think the confusion is coming from the fact that ‘modified’ can be used as both the past tense of the verb ‘modify’ or as an adjective.
However, there is no problem with saying “The file is modified.” Here, ‘modified’ is an adjective describing the file, i.e. ‘a modified file’.
If you say “The file was modified”, this is also correct, but now ‘modified’ is a verb in the past tense.
Similar words that could be used in this situation are ‘altered’ and ‘changed’.
The file was changed.(changed=past tense verb)
The file is changed. (changed=adjective, ‘a changed file’)
The file was altered. (altered=past tense verb)
The file is altered. (alter=adjective, ‘an altered file’)
I hope this helps.
Thank you very much for the reply.
Really nice example, and now I understand the context.