Does he own it still or have owned it just before or no longer owns it?

Question

Hi. Please help. What is the answer to the following three questions for the three senteces with the past perfect "had owed" below. For Example Sentence 3, I think the word "before" is optional. Thank you in advance.

1) Does he no longer own the watch?
2) Did he owe the watch up to the present but no longer owns it?
3) Does he own the watch now?

Example Sentence 1: He sold the watch he had owned for three years.
Example Sentence 2: He sold the watch he had owned for the past three years.
Example Sentence 3: He sold the watch he had owned (before).

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,
Please help. What is the answer to the following three questions for the three senteces with the past perfect "had owed" below. For Example Sentence 3, I think the word "before" is optional. Thank you in advance.

1) Does he no longer own the watch?
2) Did he owe the watch up to the present but no longer owns it?
3) Does he own the watch now?

Example Sentence 1: He sold the watch he had owned for three years.
1) Does he no longer own the watch? He no longer owns it (unless he later bought it back.

)
2) Did he own the watch up to the present but no longer owns it? First part maybe -second part no
3) Does he own the watch now? See #1

Example Sentence 2: He sold the watch he had owned for the past three years.
1) Does he no longer own the watch? He no longer owns it (unless he later bought it back.)
2) Did he own the watch up to the present but no longer owns it? First part yes -second part no
3) Does he own the watch now? See #1

Example Sentence 3: He sold the watch he had owned (before)
This is not a natural thing to say. Do you mean that he owned it, sold it, bought it back, and sold it again?

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

Hi. Thank you. Allow me to regather my thoughts and ask the questions again. Unfortunately the questions I wrote the ones weren't what I intended to ask. I am sorry.

For the two sentences below, would you say he owned the watch up to the time of selling but not after since the sale had occurred? Also how can we write a sentence to denote his having had the watch up to the time of selling if neither of the sentences denotes that? Thank you in advance. I think the word "own" is a stative verb. I think it would be easy to denote that if the verb were "keep," like "He sold the watch he had been keeping for three years." Thank you in advance.

Example Sentence 1: He sold the watch he had owned for three years.
Question: Did he own the watch up to the time of selling? Or could it be that he had owned it for three years some time before the sale but not necessarily up to the time of sale?

Example Sentence 2: He sold the watch he had owned for the past three years.
Question: Did he own the watch up to the time of selling?

Clive · Answer

Hi,

Allow me to regather my thoughts and ask the questions again. Unfortunately the questions I wrote the ones weren't what I intended to ask. I am sorry.

For the two sentences below, would you say he owned the watch up to the time of selling but not after since the sale had occurred?
Sentence #1 - Most likely he didn't own it again after he sold it, but we are not told that explicitly. But if he did own it again, you'd typically mention that more explicitly.
Sentence #2 - He didn't own it again.

Also how can we write a sentence to denote his having had the watch up to the time of selling if neither of the sentences denotes that? Thank you in advance. I think the word "own" is a stative verb. I think it would be easy to denote that if the verb were "keep," like "He sold the watch he had been keeping for three years." Thank you in advance.

Example Sentence 1: He sold the watch he had owned for three years.
Question: Did he own the watch up to the time of selling? Very probably, but not definitely.
Or could it be that he had owned it for three years some time before the sale but not necessarily up to the time of sale? Possibly, but we'd probably say that another way.

Example Sentence 2: He sold the watch he had owned for the past three years.
Question: Did he own the watch up to the time of selling? Yes.

In summary, for any odd or unusual meanings, one would almost always use words that explain more clearly.

Clive

Does he own it still or have owned it just before or no longer owns it?

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