Was / have been

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Q: Why are your hands so dirty? - I _____________ in the garden.A. was workingB. have been workingThe test says B is correct, is A wrong (technically some words (e.g 10 minutes ago) may be needed)?Thanks

Old Man Gordon · Accepted Answer

If there's no context at all, I think the correct answer should be A. We assume the answerer has stopped working, and is now at a different location, (otherwise, why would anyone ask a person in the garden why their hands are dirty?). The best way to describe a past completed action is with the simple past (was).

But...if the question were asked while the person is taking a break or if the person is working on an extensive project over many days, then I'd choose B.

Liveinjapan · Answer

I understand!
Thanks so much, OM Gordon.

CalifJim · Answer

LiveinjapanQ: Why are your hands so dirty? - I __ in the garden.

A. was working

B. have been working

The test says B is correct, is A wrong (technically some words (e.g 10 minutes ago) may be needed)?

Thanks

Perhaps the people who wrote the test are trying to encourage British style. In my opinion, as an American, both are correct, and only with the ability to read minds could anyone possibly say one was right and the other wrong. In other words, if the speaker was thinking in terms of a work session in the garden which is now finished, was working would be appropriate; if he was thinking in terms of a work session in the garden which is just now finishing (or which represents a pause in the gardening, to be resumed later), have been working would be appropriate.

I think Americans tend to think of tasks as finished and in the past as soon as possible. The British are more reluctant to see such tasks as completely past.

CJ

Liveinjapan · Answer

CalifJim, if the speaker was thinking in terms of a work session in the garden which is now finished, was working would be appropriate; if he was thinking in terms of a work session in the garden which is just now finishing (or which represents a pause in the gardening, to be resumed later), have been working would be appropriate.

Understand!

CalifJimI think Americans tend to think of tasks as finished and in the past as soon as possible. The British are more reluctant to see such tasks as completely past

That's a possibility.

Thanks so much, CJ.

Kooyeen · Answer

Grr, I still hate those verbs! I feel I might turn this innocent one-page thread into a multiple-page ****.

Because...
...I would say that the most natural is B.

a) Why are your hands so dirty?
b) Oh, I've been working in the garden... (= activity that has a strong connection with the present: your hands are dirty as a result of that activity, and pointing it out is a good answer to the question "Why are they dirty?")

I was working in the garden just tells you what you were doing at a certain point in time. Who really cares? The question is "why are your hands dirty", so that answer really doesn't sound ok to me. I would use it in a different example, if I had to:

a) Why are your hands so dirty?
b) Oh, I was working in the workshop, and I spilled some paint on my hands. (= telling what you where doing makes sense since it's part of the explanation, although it's not the cause of your dirty hands).

I would consider both of the original options as possible and with basically no difference in meaning only if the question was different:
Q) Where have you been? The dinner was ready fifteen minutes ago...

A. Sorry, I was working in the garden.
B: Sorry, I have been working in the garden.

...where neither of them imply that the task is complete, incomplete or anything.

What's wrong with my analysis? Thanks.

EDIT: on second thought I might accept "I was working in the garden" as an answer to "Why are your hands so dirty?", but only if I think of it as an incomplete thought which produces a sentence with ellipsis = I was working in the garden (some minutes ago, and that's where I got dirty, you know).

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