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I'm writing an email to a nurse, asking her if my kid's immunizations have been complete or not. I don't know which word I should use, complete or completed. And what tense should I use, present tense or present perfect tense?

The email I wrote like this:" Hixxx, I got the information that children without completed immunizations will not be able to start school. I'd like to know if my kid's immunizations are complete or not."

Please help with that. Many thanks!

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    What you wrote is fine. There are fussy people who will demand something different, but the above text would be clearly understood by any native English speaker.
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Mar 23, 2020 at 21:44
  • In the first example, complete is an adj. (Like the flowers are beautiful). The second one is the passive voice of "XYZ completes immunizations."
    – Ram Pillai
    Commented Mar 24, 2020 at 7:07
  • @HotLicks: Comment worth thinking.
    – Ram Pillai
    Commented Mar 24, 2020 at 7:33

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A more technical answer compared the top-level comment:

X is complete suggests more that something is entire and every object is included. See "My list is complete," meaning that everything I want on my list is actually on the list.

X is completed suggests that a task has be executed to "completion," à la, "I completed the job."

However, these are entirely pedantic definitions. You often hear/see people say "The job is complete." even though they mean the job has been finished.

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If the immunizations were completed then they have been taken to the end of the procedure of immunization and they are therefore complete immunizations, that is to say made thouroughly; if they are complete, then, necessarily, the procedures for performing them have been completed. Therefore both statements are equivalent as far as the outcome. You can use the past tense tense, also.

  • Hixxx, I got the information that children without completed immunizations will not be able to start school. I'd like to know if my kid's immunizations were complete or not."
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  • I might be off here, but it seems like "were complete" implies that the immunizations were in a state of completion at some past point, but currently are not. It would make more sense to leave it as present tense, such that, currently, the immunizations are in a state of completion.
    – Felix Jen
    Commented Mar 23, 2020 at 23:14
  • @FelixJen I can't figure out that one. It seems to me that whether something has been performed in its entirety or not is a question about how complete it is or in other words, whether it has been completed or not, and that a state of completion is another matter that involves the act of making complete what is not; I don't see how this possible separate state can be implied: a completion might be possible or on the contrary, impossible.
    – LPH
    Commented Mar 23, 2020 at 23:32
  • I might be envisioning a slightly different scenario where this subtly may come into play. For example, in this instance, if the immunization requirements were updated after the immunizations were complete. In this scenario, the individual , currently may be missing some immunizations, thus the immunizations are not complete. Hence, if you say the immunizations are complete, this suggests, regardless of prior modifications to the requirements of completion, a present state of completeness.
    – Felix Jen
    Commented Mar 23, 2020 at 23:37
  • I feel like the gloss might be on the subtle shade of meaning that was and is can take on. See, e.g., english.stackexchange.com/questions/283758/…
    – Felix Jen
    Commented Mar 23, 2020 at 23:40
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    A basic point here is that immunizations are not complete or completed, they’re either up to date or not, given the age of the person. Some immunizations first given to children need to be updated periodically, no doubt depending on the medical practice in the jurisdiction.
    – Xanne
    Commented Mar 24, 2020 at 2:03

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