Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[leslie]

Hi,

I have 2 questions to ask.

1. 'I've read this book.' Can it mean a. I've read this book, but I didn't finish it. I just had the experience of reading it. and b. I've finished reading this book.

2. I was reading.
Can I say 'I was reading last week'? Does this make sense? My teacher used to teach us that when you used progressive pattern, you had to use it for a specific point of time, such as 3 o'clock.

Thank you very much.

[alan.es]

1. " I've read this book " means that you finished reading the book at ' an unspecified time ' in the past.

2. " I was reading the book last week " can be used as can " I was reading the book at 3 o'clock "

- the first implies that you were reading at unspecified intervals during last week.

- the second implies that you were reading it before and after 3 o'clock.


You may be confusing the difference between present perfect and past simple rather than past progressive when you think about what your teacher told you about specified and unspecified times in the past