> Which is correct, "Product A is released" or "Product A has been released"?
>

This is actually very complicated. "Product A has been released" is actually more grammatically correct than "Product A is released", though because of changes in English it is difficult to describe "Product A is released" as incorrect. Let me explain.

"To release", in its standard form, is a transitive verb, which means that when it is used in a sentence it requires an object. "Release" can also be used as a noun, however, which I believe is the reason for confusion. "Product A has been released" is the passive form of the sentence using the present perfect tense. The subject of the sentence is implied, and the object comes before the subject, which makes the sentence passive. "Product A has been released" is really "Product A has been released (by subject X)". The active form of the sentence would be "Subject X has released Product A". Present perfect tense is used to describe conditions that began in the past and continue to the present, especially when using verbs of state.

"Product A is released" is technically incorrect, if the intent of the writer is to use "release" as a verb; the reason that the sentence makes sense to us is because "released" is being used as the past participle of "to release". This past participle is called a verbal, not a verb, and it is used as an adjective describing Product A, or, more formally, it is used as a subject complement. So, "Product A is released" consists of a subject (Product A), a linking verb (is), and a verbal subject complement (released). Linking verbs serve the function of describing the condition of something, and are often linked to subject complements. To say that "Product A is released" makes sense because "released" in that sentence functions as an adjective that carries all of the meaning of "has been released by Subject X"; that is, Product A was released at some point in the past by the releaser, and that release has not been rescinded.

At least, that seems to be the way it works. I teach English, but I am not required to teach students to parse sentences to that degree of specificity. I'm happy if I can teach my students to use the apostrophe correctly.

frum