Are these formulas possible?

Question

Are the following patterns possible? If they are, how can I understand these constructions?

It's (been) a period time since ... has/have been ... (noun or adjective)
(eg. It's been three years since he has been a worker.)

It's (been) a period time since ... has/have been doing...
(eg. It's been three years since he has been working on his novel.)

It's (been) a period time since ... has/have been done
(eg.It's been three years since he has been elected chairman of the board.)

Thank you for your help.

GPY · Accepted Answer

"It's (been) a period of time since ..." means that something happened that length of time ago (and has not happened since). The simple past is usually appropriate. For example, "It's three years since he was elected chairman of the board", "It's three years since he was a worker" or "It's three years since he worked on his novel". (I would personally tend to omit "been".)

In some cases people may use the present perfect instead. For example "It's three years since he's been a worker". This seems to work better for states or continuing actions rather than single events. For example, "It's three years since he has been elected chairman of the board" doesn't sound right.

The present perfect continuous, e.g. "It's three years since he has been working on his novel", feels awkward to me: "he has been working on his novel" gives the contrary impression to "It's three years since ...".

If you want to say that action has continued over a period of time up until now, you can say e.g. "He's been working on his novel for three years".

Anonymous · Answer

GPY"It's (been) a period of time since ..." means that something happened that length of time ago (and has not happened since). The simple past is usually appropriate. For example, "It's three years since he was elected chairman of the board", "It's three years since he was a worker" or "It's three years since he worked on his novel". (I would personally tend to omit "been".)In some cases people may use the present perfect instead. For example "It's three years since he's been a worker". This seems to work better for states or continuing actions rather than single events. For example, "It's three years since he has been elected chairman of the board" doesn't sound right.The present perfect continuous, e.g. "It's three years since he has been working on his novel", feels awkward to me: "he has been working on his novel" gives the contrary impression to "It's three years since ...".If you want to say that action has continued over a period of time up until now, you can say e.g. "He's been working on his novel for three years".

I have got some examples.
A: You have had three cups of tea since you have been here. It means you are still here.
B: It's been three years since you've been in the army. It means you are still in the army.
C: We have been watching TV since you've been playing video games.

Sherpa.

Zuotengdazuo · Answer

GPY"It's (been) a period of time since ..." means that something happened that length of time ago (and has not happened since). The simple past is usually appropriate. For example, "It's three years since he was elected chairman of the board", "It's three years since he was a worker" or "It's three years since he worked on his novel". (I would personally tend to omit "been".)In some cases people may use the present perfect instead. For example "It's three years since he's been a worker". This seems to work better for states or continuing actions rather than single events. For example, "It's three years since he has been elected chairman of the board" doesn't sound right.The present perfect continuous, e.g. "It's three years since he has been working on his novel", feels awkward to me: "he has been working on his novel" gives the contrary impression to "It's three years since ...".If you want to say that action has continued over a period of time up until now, you can say e.g. "He's been working on his novel for three years".

Thank you for your detailed explanation. I can grasp your point. But I don't know if my understanding of the formulas is correct. Would you please check them?

1.It's three years since he has been a worker. (This is equivalent to "It's three years since he was a worker" or "He hasn't been a worker for three years" or "He was a worker three ago(and probably before that), but he hasn't been a worker since")

2.It's two hours since he has been here.(This is equivalent to "It's two hours since he was here" or "He was here two hours ago(and probably before that), but he was no longer here since two hours ago")

3.It's three years since he was elected chairman of the board.(This is equivalent to "He was elected chairman of the board, but we don't know if he has held down that post since then or we don't know if he is still the chairman.)

4.It's two weeks since he was on a business trip.(He went on a business trip two weeks ago, but we don't know if he has succeeded in finishing his business trip(He might have finished his business trip and he is back or he might have had an accident during his business trip so he can't finish it))

5.The second formula and the third one are incorrect so we should not use them.

Thanks again.

Zuotengdazuo · Answer

zuotengdazuo (This is equivalent to "He was elected chairman of the board, but we don't know if he has held down that post since then or we don't know if he is still the chairman.)

I made a mistake, the sentence should be "This is equivalent to "He was elected chairman of the board three years ago, but we don't know if he has held down that post since then or we don't know if he is still the chairman."

GPY · Answer

AnonymousB: It's been three years since you've been in the army. It means you are still in the army.

No, it means you are no longer in the army.

AnonymousC: We have been watching TV since you've been playing video games.

We have been watching TV while you've been playing video games.

GPY · Answer

zuotengdazuo1.It's three years since he has been a worker. (This is equivalent to "It's three years since he was a worker" or "He hasn't been a worker for three years" or "He was a worker three ago(and probably before that), but he hasn't been a worker since")

Yes.

(Rather than referring to "being a worker", we would often say something like "It's three years since he had a job" or "He hasn't worked for three years", but this is not directly related to your question.)

zuotengdazuo2.It's two hours since he has been here.(This is equivalent to "It's two hours since he was here" or "He was here two hours ago(and probably before that), but he was no longer here since two hours ago")

Yes.

However, this sentence does not thrill me, and I would generally prefer something like "He hasn't been here for two hours" or "He left two hours ago".

zuotengdazuo3.It's three years since he was elected chairman of the board. (This is equivalent to "He was elected chairman of the board three years ago, but we don't know if he has held down that post since then or we don't know if he is still the chairman.)

Yes.

zuotengdazuo4.It's two weeks since he was on a business trip.(He went on a business trip two weeks ago, but we don't know if he has succeeded in finishing his business trip(He might have finished his business trip and he is back or he might have had an accident during his business trip so he can't finish it))

It implies that he is no longer on a business trip (i.e. no longer away on business). He came back from his last business trip two weeks ago. It also implies that he goes on business trips very often, so that commenting on fact that he has not been away on business for two weeks is worthwhile.

By the way, this is incorrect spacing:

1.It's three years since he has been a worker.

This is correct spacing:

1. It's three years since he has been a worker.

Zuotengdazuo · Answer

Thank you very much. But I am still struggling with #4. Why doesn't it mean "He went on a business trip two weeks ago and now he is back."?

And besides, are the second and third structure incorrect so we should not say them?

GPY · Answer

zuotengdazuoThank you very much. But I am still struggling with #4. Why doesn't it mean "He went on a business trip two weeks ago and now he is back."?

Possibly it is the phrase "on a business trip" that is causing difficulty. When you are on a business trip, it means that the trip is in progress. Therefore, if it's (been) two weeks since you were on a business trip, it means that no trip has been in progress over that period of time, i.e. you returned from the last one two weeks ago.

zuotengdazuoAnd besides, are the second and third structure incorrect so we should not say them?

Sorry, I'm unsure which structures you are now referring to. Could you state them again?

Zuotengdazuo · Answer

Thank you again.
These are the structures I was asking about:

It's (been) a period time since ... has/have been doing...

It's (been) a period time since ... has/have been done

Do you suggest that they are incorrect so we should not use them?

Zuotengdazuo · Answer

GPY Possibly it is the phrase "on a business trip" that is causing difficulty. When you are on a business trip, it means that the trip is in progress. Therefore, if it's (been) two weeks since you were on a business trip, it means that no trip has been in progress over that period of time, i.e. you returned from the last one two weeks ago.

And besides, can I asked a few more questions relevant to this topic? It's still the same pattern, but I am not sure I if I can use it correctly.

1. It's been two hours since he was up.(Does it mean "He hasn't been up for two hours. He has slept for two hours "?)
2. It's been two hours since he has been up.(This is equivalent to #1?)
3. It's been two weeks since he has been on a business trip.(This is equivalent to "It's been two weeks since he was on a business trip",right?)
4. It's been two yeas since he was/has been onto something big.(This is equivalent to "This last time he was onto something big was two years ago. Over the two years, he has not discovered anything big.", right?)
5. It's been a period of time since someone was ... = It's been a period of time since someone has been ...(There is no difference between these two structures in meaning, so we can use them interchangeablely, right?)

Sorry for too many questions.

Are these formulas possible?

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