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Kilimanjaro Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

Tense consistency

Allison.......French for 3 years when she.............to do her M.A in Belgium.

a- has been studying / will start
b- will have been studying / has started
c- has studied / starts
d- had been studying / started

Hello,

"D" is correct, as you may well know. Could we say "B" is correct too.
  

Top answer

No - if you want "will have been studying" it means that it will be the case when some future event happens: I will have been at my job for four years next month. So you can't have "has started" as the second part of the phrase - that puts the "starting" in the past. She will have been studying French for three years when she starts in MA.

— BarbaraPA

  • No - if you want "will have been studying" it means that it will be the case when some future event happens: I will have been at my job for four years next month.
  • So you can't have "has started" as the second part of the phrase - that puts the "starting" in the past.
  • She will have been studying French for three years when she starts in MA.
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7 Answers
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No - if you want "will have been studying" it means that it will be the case when some future event happens: I will have been at my job for four years next month.

So you can't have "has started" as the second part of the phrase - that puts the "starting" in the past.

She will have been studying French for three years when she starts in MA.
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No, not for me...

I should be "... will have been studying ... when she starts ...", and I'm not even sure!
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Thanks Grammar Geek and Pianne!
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Only “D” is the correct answer. “B” just sounds more than a mouthful…



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Goodman

Only “D” is the correct answer.


That was my independent guess too
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I can see how B might be considered a possibility, because it works with "by the time (that)" instead of "when":

Allison will have been studying French for 3 years by the time she has started to do her M.A. in Belgium.

At least it works for me.

It works, doesn't it?

CJ
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If one wants B, I'd incline towards GG's.
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