Teacher Discussion Forums

Taking advantage of the fuss about the Present Perfect; given this sentence:

(1) It has been three years that I don't see my father.
(2) It has been three years that I last saw my father.

Is that ever possible to utter the first sentence? I mean, in Portuguese one combines the perfect aspect with the present simple to mean the second sentence, so I see lots of students write sentences like (1).

Another thing, given:

(3) I have lived here for ten years .
(4) I live here for ten years.

What kind of impact has (4) on native ears? I know that it's quite common romance speakers utter sentences like (4), but how do you react to it? Is this the kind of deviation like more big or it's a serious deviation for a native speaker?

I hope I have been clear in my enquiries.

José

Metamorfose wrote:Taking advantage of the fuss about the Present Perfect; given this sentence:

(1) It has been three years that I don't see my father.
(2) It has been three years that I last saw my father.

Actually, I can't use either one of them. I would prefer:

It has been three years since I last saw my father.

or, I haven't seen my father for three years.

(3) I have lived here for ten years .
(4) I live here for ten years.

What kind of impact has (4) on native ears?

Ouch. It hurts .

Lorikeet's right on the money!

Larry Latham