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Anonymous Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

Tom hasn't been sleeping since 2.

0Concerning the sentence: Tom hasn't been sleeping since 2.02br
02br
00Which is the right context for the above sentence, (A) or (B) or (C) or all or none of them?02br
02br
00(A) Tom has been awake since 2.02br
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00(B) Tom had been sleeping until 2, and has been awake since 2.02br
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00(C) Tom had been sleeping since 2 until a certain point of time [sometime between 2 and now], and since that point he has been awake until now. 02br
02br
00 I think (A) and (C) is right. But I'm not so sure about (C). 0-
  

Top answer

0There's also a fourth possibility. 02br 02br 00As in "Wake that lazy boy up! " "No, he hasn't.

— BarbaraPA

  • 0There's also a fourth possibility.
  • 02br 02br 00As in "Wake that lazy boy up!
  • " "No, he hasn't.
  • He was up helping me for hours and he's only just now gone back to bed.
  • "02br 02br 00Although I don't see the difference between A and B.
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9 Answers
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0There's also a fourth possibility. Tom started sleeping sometimes after 2 and is asleep now.02br
02br
00As in "Wake that lazy boy up! He's been sleeping since two!" "No, he hasn't. He was up helping me for hours and he's only just now gone back to bed. So he has NOT been sleeping since 2."02br
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00Although I don't see the difference between A and B. 
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0Tom hasn't been sleeping since 2.02br
02br
00Which is the right context for the above sentence, (A) or (B) or (C) or all or none of them?02br
02br
00(A) Tom has been awake since 2.02br
02br
00(B) Tom had been sleeping until 2, and has been awake since 2.02br
02br
00(C) Tom had been sleeping since 2 until a certai
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0Please don't start a new thread if you have a follow-up question. I have merged these threads for you.0-
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0 I don't think there really is a "right context" for this sentence. It seems somehow ill-formed. The problem is the ambiguity in the scope of the negation.02br
02br
00 Tom hasn't been sleeping since 2.02br
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00 "Tom has been doing non-sleeping since 2"? i.e., Tom has been (continuously) awake since 2.02br
00 OR02br
00 "
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0It is an incomplete sentence and requires context and rewording.02br
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00It could mean that Tom has had insomnia from the age of 2 years.02br
02br
002 is not defined. What is 2? It could be part of a game.02br
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00If it is referring to time is it am or pm?02br
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00There is no way of knowing what Tom was d
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0 01blockquote
01cite10CalifJim12cite10I don't think there really is a "right context" for this sentence. It seems somehow ill-formed. The problem is the ambiguity in the scope of the negation.12br
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10Tom hasn't been sleeping since 2.12br
12br
10"Tom has been doing non-sleeping since 2"? i.e., Tom has been
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0 01font00Tom hasn't slept since 2. 02font02br
02br
01font00I think there 's no ambiguity, in terms of the scope of Negation.02br
00I think "not" only modifies "slept", so B is the same as the sentence: Tom has been awake since 2. Am I right?02font02br
02br
00That wou
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0 No matter which tense or rephrasing you use, the ambiguity is still present, though maybe not as prominently. As GG says, you can just about always find a context in which a particular interpretation holds. Nevertheless, I agree that the ambiguity is less prominent in the rephrasings.02br
00 But to be even clearer, 01i00has been awake since02i00 is far
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0－－－Concerning the ambiguity still being present----- Please let me explain for a while and then judge if my explanation is right or not.02br
02br
00A: Tom hasn't been sleeping since 2.02br
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00B: Tom hasn't slept since 2 02br
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00I think in sentence A, there are 2 ways in which "not" modifies. One is, "not" only modifies "sleep
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