That analysis still holds true today.
↑ I've seen that sentence from an article, and I have a question.
In my opinion, just saying "that analysis is still true today" can be also correct gramatically.
Can you tell me the difference between hold true and be true?
Best Answer
It's probably most useful to think of holds true as a single phrase rather than considering holds as a modifier of true.
Holds true has the sense of is applicable. We take the an analysis of a past situation and find that it is applicable to the situation today, it holds true today.
Using is true doesn't work quite so well: it is not the correctness of the analysis itself that is interesting, it the use of the analysis in a different situation from that in which it was conceived. It is the combination of existing analysis and new situation we are considering. Holds true has this sense of applying something in a new context.