Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[mingus]

Hello,

I'd much appreciate your help with the following question.

I'm utterly confused by the "it's (been) ages since" phrase. The hardest part for me is not the omission of "been" itself but what tense comes next. I've seen both the Present Perfect AND Past Simple allowed by various grammar sources, don't really get the Present Perfect usage though. Don't we all say:

I've known you since I met you.
I've been married since I got married.
etc., etc.?

Hence "It's been ages since I saw you" seems a logical choice for me. "It's ages since I have seen you" only ruins this clear picture.

What's the mechanism behind this usage?

Also, given that there's nothing wrong with "It's ages since I've seen" (as indicated by Michael Vince, for example), are the following sentences ok as well?

It's been ages since I've seen you. (sounds "overdone")
It's ages since I saw you. (sounds incomplete)

Thank you for reading & a thousand thanks for replying.
one confused mingus

[Mister Micawber]

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There is a discussion on this topic HERE and HERE. Mingus.
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"I really do not know that anything has ever been more exciting than diagramming sentences." � Gertrude Stein
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Canadian-American who teaches English for a living at Mr Micawber's