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Johnson13 Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
I have used a whole month to finish the book.
A sentence: I have used a whole month to finish the book.
Is it idiomatic English? I think it is, but I won't swear to it. So I hope a native speaker can tell me.
When we say we have used a whole hour to have our meal, within that particular hour, the act of HAVE lasted for 60 minutes; when we say we have used a whole month to read a book, within that particular month, the act of READ lasted 30 days, so I had doubt whether I could say the above sentence: in it, doesn't it have the implication that the act of FINISHING a book lasted for 30 days? The act of reading can reasonably last even decades, but the act of finishing something can only be transient! But then I developed another thought: TO is a short form for IN ORDER TO, so the second half part of the sentence is detached from the first half, and the sentence is logical; do you agree with me?
Is it idiomatic English? I think it is, but I won't swear to it. So I hope a native speaker can tell me.
When we say we have used a whole hour to have our meal, within that particular hour, the act of HAVE lasted for 60 minutes; when we say we have used a whole month to read a book, within that particular month, the act of READ lasted 30 days, so I had doubt whether I could say the above sentence: in it, doesn't it have the implication that the act of FINISHING a book lasted for 30 days? The act of reading can reasonably last even decades, but the act of finishing something can only be transient! But then I developed another thought: TO is a short form for IN ORDER TO, so the second half part of the sentence is detached from the first half, and the sentence is logical; do you agree with me?
Top answer
Johnson13 I have used a whole month to finish the book. It took me a whole month to finish the/this book. (a whole month=30 days) or It's taken me the whole month to finish the/this book.
- Johnson13 I have used a whole month to finish the book.
- It took me a whole month to finish the/this book.
- (a whole month=30 days) or It's taken me the whole month to finish the/this book.
- (if the month is not over yet)
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3 Answers
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Johnson13I have used a whole month to finish the book.It took me a whole month to finish the/this book. (a whole month=30 days)
or
It's taken me the whole month to finish the/this book. (if the month is not over yet)
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Thanks.
But isn't the fact that even when something was finished in the past and the time is not specified, we can still use the present perfect tense?
For example now is May, and I started reading a book from April 1st until 30th, and can I now say It's taken me...? (although I would prefer TOOK, I just can't convince myself, because, for example, when a person is not a director
But isn't the fact that even when something was finished in the past and the time is not specified, we can still use the present perfect tense?
For example now is May, and I started reading a book from April 1st until 30th, and can I now say It's taken me...? (although I would prefer TOOK, I just can't convince myself, because, for example, when a person is not a director
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You can use Present Perfect when talking about having experience of doing/being somehing.
For example, I have been (the) director of *** is fine as a response to "Have you ever been a director in your professional carrer?"
However, in your example you seem to refer to one occasion when reading a book took a whole month, so using Simple past seems much better than using Present Perfec
For example, I have been (the) director of *** is fine as a response to "Have you ever been a director in your professional carrer?"
However, in your example you seem to refer to one occasion when reading a book took a whole month, so using Simple past seems much better than using Present Perfec
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