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Anonymous Posted 21 years ago
Grammar
*tense
hello, I want to ask a question about tense, concerned to the below situation.
ex. a week ago I was in New York, and 3 days ago I went to California. Today (now I am at California) I talk to some one.
(a) "after I came here, I have been busy upto now."
(b) "after I come here, I have been busy upto now."
which is correct ?
I read from a grammar book that we have to use the same tense in the main and sub clause, so now I'm confused.
thanks
ex. a week ago I was in New York, and 3 days ago I went to California. Today (now I am at California) I talk to some one.
(a) "after I came here, I have been busy upto now."
(b) "after I come here, I have been busy upto now."
which is correct ?
I read from a grammar book that we have to use the same tense in the main and sub clause, so now I'm confused.
thanks
Top answer
a) because you came here (3 days ago - past) and you have been busy (from 3 days ago continually to this moment) up till now. It doesn't sound entirely natural though. Most people would say 'I've been busy since I got here'
- a) because you came here (3 days ago - past) and you have been busy (from 3 days ago continually to this moment) up till now.
- It doesn't sound entirely natural though.
- Most people would say 'I've been busy since I got here'
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5 Answers
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a) because you came here (3 days ago - past) and you have been busy (from 3 days ago continually to this moment) up till now.
It doesn't sound entirely natural though. Most people would say 'I've been busy since I got here'
It doesn't sound entirely natural though. Most people would say 'I've been busy since I got here'
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I read from a grammar book called Advand Grammar in Use by Martin Hewings.
In the chaptor of Adverbial clauses of time, it says "to talk about the present or past, use the same tense you would use in a main clause" that's why I was confused at which tense I should use in the sub clause. This is an example from the book : When she heard the results she was overjoyed.
(a) Since I g
In the chaptor of Adverbial clauses of time, it says "to talk about the present or past, use the same tense you would use in a main clause" that's why I was confused at which tense I should use in the sub clause. This is an example from the book : When she heard the results she was overjoyed.
(a) Since I g
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No b is not correct but I need to send a grammarian your way to explain it to you properly!
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Looking forward to your explanation. This problem really annoys me.
Thank you
Thank you
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What you want is "I've been busy since the moment I arrived", "I've been busy since I arrived", or "I've been busy since I got here."
We do not have to use the same tense in the main clause and the subordinate clause. Certainly not in the general case. In the specific case of "I have been X since Y", the event described at Y is almost always going to be in the simple past. I rec
We do not have to use the same tense in the main clause and the subordinate clause. Certainly not in the general case. In the specific case of "I have been X since Y", the event described at Y is almost always going to be in the simple past. I rec
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