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Lucas21c Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
Tense
1. Could you check whether both of (A) and (B) are okay in the following sentence?
He said she [ (A) had been studying / (B) has been studying ] in the library since this morning.
2. I think the meaning of (A) and (B) here are different from each other. (A) means that the speaker doesn't know whether she is studying there now or just doesn't want to say about it even if the speaker knows it. However, in case of (B), the speaker knows that "he" is still studying there now and wants to explicitly say about it with the sentence. That is to say, the listener(s) can never find out whether he is studying in the library now with (A), but can with (B). Could you tell me whether my understanding is right about this issue?
He said she [ (A) had been studying / (B) has been studying ] in the library since this morning.
2. I think the meaning of (A) and (B) here are different from each other. (A) means that the speaker doesn't know whether she is studying there now or just doesn't want to say about it even if the speaker knows it. However, in case of (B), the speaker knows that "he" is still studying there now and wants to explicitly say about it with the sentence. That is to say, the listener(s) can never find out whether he is studying in the library now with (A), but can with (B). Could you tell me whether my understanding is right about this issue?
Top answer
Dear Lucas "He said he has been studying in the library since this morning". This means that you asked him in the recent past. He started studying in the morning and is continuing to study at the time of reporting.
- Dear Lucas "He said he has been studying in the library since this morning".
- This means that you asked him in the recent past.
- He started studying in the morning and is continuing to study at the time of reporting.
- " "He said he had been studying in the library this morning" We can't use "since" in this case because the action is no longer continuing.
- (Use "since" only with the present perfect) The "saying" and the "studying" are both in the past but the "studying" took place before the "saying" and so needs to be in the past perfect.
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2 Answers
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Dear Lucas
"He said he has been studying in the library since this morning".
This means that you asked him in the recent past. He started studying in the morning and is continuing to study at the time of reporting.
It's possible also to report this in the present : "He says that...."
"He said he had been studying in the library this morning"
We can't u
"He said he has been studying in the library since this morning".
This means that you asked him in the recent past. He started studying in the morning and is continuing to study at the time of reporting.
It's possible also to report this in the present : "He says that...."
"He said he had been studying in the library this morning"
We can't u
00
Then, how about "He said he had been studying in the library since this morning when I met him in the cafeteria"?
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