This verb "to miss"

Question

Dear teachers,today I was thinking all the day the correct tense to express a certain concept. Unfortunately, I did not find a solution, I more confused than before :-((The chat is this:A." How are you and how is Petr?"B" "I am fine and Petr is here in the office, I guess ........."   (Verb to miss)Initially, I thought "I guess you have missed Petr so much" but then other versions came to mind:"I guess you have been missing Petr so much""I guess you missed  Petr so much""I guess you are missing Petr so muchWhich is then the correct one? If there is more than one correct, please explain in which situation I could use it.Thank you so muchPamela

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi Pamela,
First of all, if person A misses person B, it can mean that person A longs for person B's company.

We typically speak of missing our loved ones or our close friends. When I worked in an office environment, I didn't hear this expression often, and it would easily have sounded too 'emotional'. I suppose we were mostly a bunch of uptight Anglos.

Is your office situation more inclined to talk about colleagues in such a way?

If so, any tense can be used, depending on what you want to say.

Clive

Canadian45 · Answer

Pamela81Dear teachers,

Today I was thinking all ~~the~~ day about the correct tense to express a certain concept. Unfortunately, I did not find a solution; I am more confused than before. :-((

The chat is this: You cannot end a sentence with a colon.
A." How are you and how is Petr?"
B" "I am fine and Petr is here in the office, I guess ........." (Verb to miss)

Initially, I thought "I guess you have missed Petr so much" but then other versions came to mind: same colon problem
"I guess you have missed Petr so much
"I guess you have been missing Petr so much"
Strictly speaking, both of the above mean that 'you' are still missing Petr. But depending on the situation or carefulness of use, they might be used even if the missing is now over.
So if you are still missing Petr, neither of the above is the best way to express that.

"I guess you missed Petr so much" correct and means that the missing is over; it occurred in the past
"I guess you are missing Petr so much" correct and clearly means that the missing is still continuing

Which is then the correct one? If there is more than one correct, please explain in which situation I could use it. This topic is a good example of the fact that sometimes the simplest tenses are the best, partly because they have very clear meanings. But "you are missing" also has a very clear meaning.

So if the missing was in tha past, I suggest you say 'I guess you missed Petr so much.'
And if the missing is continung, I suggest you say 'I guess you miss Petr so much' (second choice is 'are missing')

You could make the case that, all other things being equal, the simplest tenses are the best.
It's very interesting that in your all-day struggle to find the best tenses, you totally overlooked one of the simplest of all tenses, simple present tense.

Pamela81 · Answer

Hi Clive,

thank you very much for your reply.

Actually I forgot to explain that the meaning was ironic. My customer had some problems with this guy Petr and my question should have been seen as ironic, as joke. Do you get?

Oh, I am not uptight person and no one if our office is :-) therefore we usually deal, when possible, in a friendly and sometimes ironic way.

I hope I was able to let you understand the meaning of my sentence.

Hi Canadian45:

I have read your explanation and I´ve found it very helpful and clear. Thank you so much!

About the colon, I didn´t know, I usually use it when I am going to describe a situation or to list something...

Thank you so much for the replies!

Best regards

Pamela

Canadian45 · Answer

Pamela81Hi Canadian45:

About the colon, I didn't know. I usually use it when I am going to describe a situation or to list something.

a few points about the colon
1) A colon can not come at the end of a sentence. And related to that, a sentence always continues on the same line until there is no more room on that line. So you cannot write something like the following.

The chat is this:

There are two requirements before you can use this kind of colon.
1) What comes before the colon has to be able to stand as an independent sentence.
2) What comes after the colon gives further information about what came before the colon.

My three favorite cities are: A, B, and C.

What comes before the colon is not a complete sentence.

I have three favorite cities: A, B, and C.

http://www.writingcentre.uottawa.ca/hypergrammar/colon.html

The above is a start. Ask questions if you wish.

Pamela81 · Answer

canadian45 Pamela81Hi Canadian45:About the colon, I didn't know. I usually use it when I am going to describe a situation or to list something.a few points about the colon 1) A colon can not come at the end of a sentence. And related to that, a sentence always continues on the same line until there is no more room on that line. So you cannot write something like the following.The chat is this: There are two requirements before you can use this kind of colon.1) What comes before the colon has to be able to stand as an independent sentence.2) What comes after the colon gives further information about what came before the colon.My three favorite cities are: A, B, and C. What comes before the colon is not a complete sentence.I have three favorite cities: A, B, and C.http://www.writingcentre.uottawa.ca/hypergrammar/colon.html The above is a start. Ask questions if you wish.

Thank you for the link and the explanation, actually I don´t remember if I learned this rule at school....

This verb "to miss"

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