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Paul_h Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
It's been a while since I've seen / since I saw
Hi,
I'm interested in knowing the difference/right one here
It's been a while since I've seen ...
It's been a while since I saw ...
There are two types of tenses here. The first one is "It has been a while", because it's a period of time. The second one however I'm not so sure about. "Since I've seen" vs. "Since I saw". The point in time when I saw somebody/something is a specific point in time, so shouldn't it be simple past here? Because I'm referring to a very concrete point in time.
But many times I hear the first version as opposed to the second. Also, Google gives way more hits to the first. So I'm suspecting the first one is right, but my knowledge of Grammar says the second one should be. Where's the problem here?
Thanks,
Paul
I'm interested in knowing the difference/right one here
It's been a while since I've seen ...
It's been a while since I saw ...
There are two types of tenses here. The first one is "It has been a while", because it's a period of time. The second one however I'm not so sure about. "Since I've seen" vs. "Since I saw". The point in time when I saw somebody/something is a specific point in time, so shouldn't it be simple past here? Because I'm referring to a very concrete point in time.
But many times I hear the first version as opposed to the second. Also, Google gives way more hits to the first. So I'm suspecting the first one is right, but my knowledge of Grammar says the second one should be. Where's the problem here?
Thanks,
Paul
Top answer
You will often hear the first as well as the second. Semantically it does not make sense, and grammatically it is wrong, but native speakers use it-- presumably it is an echo effect from the first present perfect in the main clause. A careful writer will avoid this.
- You will often hear the first as well as the second.
- Semantically it does not make sense, and grammatically it is wrong, but native speakers use it-- presumably it is an echo effect from the first present perfect in the main clause.
- A careful writer will avoid this.
- However, there are some cases in which the present perfect in the 'since' clause is appropriate: when that action also continues to the present, as with this: I have seen him only twice since I have lived in Chicago.
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1 Answers
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You will often hear the first as well as the second. Semantically it does not make sense, and grammatically it is wrong, but native speakers use it-- presumably it is an echo effect from the first present perfect in the main clause. A careful writer will avoid this.
However, there are some cases in which the present perfect in the 'since' clause is appropriate: when that action also co
However, there are some cases in which the present perfect in the 'since' clause is appropriate: when that action also co
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