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Anonymous Posted 8 years ago
Grammar

Grammar Tense

Hello!

Is it possible to use any of these three tenses in this sentence:

Please step out of the car, Mr. Jones. Do you realize you have driven at over 90mph

Please step out of the car, Mr. Jones. Do you realize you were driving at over 90mph

Please step out of the car, Mr. Jones. Do you realize you have been driving at over 90mph


If so, how does the sence change, depending on the tense.

Thanks!

  

Top answer

You have forgotten to add question marks, Only #2 is natural English.

— Clive

  • You have forgotten to add question marks, Only #2 is natural English.
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4 Answers
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You have forgotten to add question marks,

Only #2 is natural English.

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It's still not clear why.

Could you please explain why the rest variants are no good. Do you mean that you seldom use perfect tenses in everyday speech and that's why the 2 variant is more natural?


Thank you

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It's somewhat idiomatic, but here are a few thoughts on why these versions sound unnatural to me.

Please step out of the car, Mr. Jones. Do you realize you have driven at over 90mph Sounds a bit like the cop is talking about your life to date.

Please step out of the car, Mr. Jones. Do you realize you have been driving at over 90mph Suggests you have

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Thank you very much! Now it's clear!

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