<<After Homer accidentally pollutes the town's water supply, Springfield is encased in a gigantic dome by the EPA and the Simpsons family are declared fugitives.>>
This is the plotline of The Simpsons Movie on the IMDB website.
I'm having a little bit of problem understanding why in the first part "pollutes" is used instead of "polluted", mainly because of "after". I understand the meaning, like the infinitive is used, but still it doesn't sound OK... Is this commonly said?
Also, about the "family are"... is it always "are" and not "is"?
<< I'm having a little bit of problem understanding why in the first part "pollutes" is used instead of "polluted", mainly because of "after". >>
It's typical for everything that happens within an episode or a movie to be described in the present tense in a plotline. First X happens, then Y happens, then Z happens; not X happened, Y happened, then Z happens. The past tense would still be possible, though, especially considering that this is one of the first events in the movie that sets up the story (and therefore, for most of the movie, this event is in the past).
But the reason the present tense makes sense is because one only uses the past tense after words like "after" when the event was in the past. For example, if you're about to throw a ball, you say, "After I throw the ball, you must catch it", not "After I threw...". This particular sentence is one where it just happens that the event could be seen either way.
<< I understand the meaning, like the infinitive is used >>
I'm not sure I understand this part. What does this have to do with the infinitive?
<< Also, about the "family are"... is it always "are" and not "is"? >>
No, you can say "the family is" (although I believe British English would prefer "are"). I think the main reason it's "are" here is to agree with number with "fugitives"; saying "the Simpsons family is declared fugitive" would sound a bit strange, since one usually thinks of people as fugitives, not families.
- Kef
Aha, thanks for explaining, I get it now, it was very clear^^
I said "infinitive" but meant present tense.
It's because, in English, these verb forms are pretty much the same... in my native language they're not, and only the infinitive would be used in this case, so I was trying to make that same distinction in English...
Think I got the "is" "are" case as well. Thanks~