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Zuotengdazuo Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
Has he smoked incessantly over the years?
Hey. I have asked two similar questions and I think I have a better understanding of the structure "It is ... since..." now.
But when I consider this kind of sentences, which make a reference to a single event, I doubt if they are ambiguous in meaning.
For example, when I say
"It's been three years since he began to smoke"
Can I interpret it in two different ways?
1. He has smoked over the three years without stopping.(and he probably will continue to smoke from now on.)
2. He has smoked for a period of time and then he quitted smoking. After a while, he took up the habit again.
And he has alternated between smoking and not smoking over the three years till now. But we don't know if he still had the habit of smoking now.
I have the same doubts about the likes of this sentences:
"It's been four hours since he got up"(He has been up for four hours or he has been up for, say, an hour, and then he slept again for, say, two hours. He has alternated between up and in bed over the four hours. But after four hours, we don't know if he is still in bed or up.)
"It's been three months since he went on a business trip."
etc
Are they ambiguous? If they are not, which interpretation is correct?
Please shed light on it. Thank you in advance.
But when I consider this kind of sentences, which make a reference to a single event, I doubt if they are ambiguous in meaning.
For example, when I say
"It's been three years since he began to smoke"
Can I interpret it in two different ways?
1. He has smoked over the three years without stopping.(and he probably will continue to smoke from now on.)
2. He has smoked for a period of time and then he quitted smoking. After a while, he took up the habit again.
And he has alternated between smoking and not smoking over the three years till now. But we don't know if he still had the habit of smoking now.
I have the same doubts about the likes of this sentences:
"It's been four hours since he got up"(He has been up for four hours or he has been up for, say, an hour, and then he slept again for, say, two hours. He has alternated between up and in bed over the four hours. But after four hours, we don't know if he is still in bed or up.)
"It's been three months since he went on a business trip."
etc
Are they ambiguous? If they are not, which interpretation is correct?
Please shed light on it. Thank you in advance.
Top answer
1. )2. He has smoked for a period of time and then he quitted smoking.
- 1.
- )2.
- He has smoked for a period of time and then he quitted smoking.
- And he has alternated between smoking and not smoking over the three years till now.
- But we don't know if he still had the habit of smoking now.
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4 Answers
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zuotengdazuo"It's been three years since he began to smoke" Can I interpret it in two different ways?1. He has smoked over the three years without stopping.(and he probably will continue to smoke from now on.)2. He has smoked for a period of time and then he quitted smoking. After a while, he took up the habit again.And he has alternated between smoking and not smoking ov
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zuotengdazuoAre they ambiguous?Not to me. To my brain, they all work exactly the same way.
zuotengdazuoIt's been three years since he began to smoke~ He began to smoke. Then three years passed.
(We assume that the sentence refers to the most recent instance of beginning to smoke.)
zuotengdazuo
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Thank you both so much. I understand now.
So basically, there are two conditions in this structure, which can convey two different meanings:
1. If the "since" clause refers to an single event(eg. he started to smoke/he shareholders elected him chairman), the structure means "the last time someone did somethin is *** time a
So basically, there are two conditions in this structure, which can convey two different meanings:
1. If the "since" clause refers to an single event(eg. he started to smoke/he shareholders elected him chairman), the structure means "the last time someone did somethin is *** time a
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