word choice - "from where it was stopped" vs "from where it has stopped"

This question is about the usage of was and has.

Which sentence is correct?

1. The match will resume from where it was stopped.




2. The match will resume from where it has stopped.

What is the difference between was and has in this scenario?

Answer

They are very different constructions, though both are (probably) possible here.

First, note that stop, like many verbs denoting a change of state, can be used both transitively and intransitively:

The boy stopped the ball. (transitive)

The ball stopped (intransitive).

The transitive use usually implies that the stopping was caused by something external, whereas the intransitive use does not.

The transitive use, like any transitive verb, can be made passive:

The ball was stopped [by the boy]

As usual for a passive, the agent is optional; but "The ball was stopped" implies an external agent, unlike "the ball stopped".

We would not normally talk about a match stopping without an external agent:

The referee stopped the match.

but

? The match stopped.

is dubious. We'd normally used a word like "finished" or "ended"; and any other way it stopped would be from an external cause.

Now, what about "has stopped"?

"Has" + past participle is how we form the present perfect, of the active verb. So "The match has stopped" is very like "The match stopped" (intransitive), but with a perfect instead of a simple past. Perfect is used when the speaker wants to express that an event in the past has some present relevance.

I think that (leaving aside the unlikelihood of talking about a match stopping without external influence, as I discussed above), the present perfect is much less likely here than the simple past "from where it stopped"; but it is possible.