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Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

I've been better ? Please help!

I found that this expression <I've been better> means that <I don't feel well> <I'm sick>. Would anyone explain why it is please? Also, why the present perfect form was used? Does that mean that "I've been getting better"
Thanks.
  

Top answer

If you feel terrific, you can't feel better than that, right? So if you're feeling a bit under-the-weather, there are definitely times in your life in which you have felt better. It doesn't mean you are getting better -- only that you have felt better at some point in the past.

— BarbaraPA

  • If you feel terrific, you can't feel better than that, right?
  • So if you're feeling a bit under-the-weather, there are definitely times in your life in which you have felt better.
  • It doesn't mean you are getting better -- only that you have felt better at some point in the past.
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3 Answers
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If you feel terrific, you can't feel better than that, right?

So if you're feeling a bit under-the-weather, there are definitely times in your life in which you have felt better.

It doesn't mean you are getting better -- only that you have felt better at some point in the past.
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The present perfect is used because it refers to all of the time in the speaker's life up to now.

"I've been better" = There have been days in the past (in my lifetime) when I felt better than I feel today.

The number of days on which the person felt better than he/she feels today is unspecified. However, the sentence is generally interpretted to mean that the person usually
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It does not necessarily mean one is sick. It usually means one is feeling less happy or less well than normal, and it literally means they have been better some unspecified time in the past. He/she is talking about how they feel at this current point in time.

The tense is "present perfect".
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