Teacher Discussion Forums

Could you please tell me which of these is correct:
Don't be mad with me because I haven't fixed the shelves. I _____to do it, but I just_______ the
time.
a) have meant, haven't found
b) meant, haven't found

'I have meant' just doesn't sound right (it would help if you ellipted the 'because I haven't fixed the shelves', although I appreciate you probably supplied that just to make the context clearer). 'I've been meaning to do it' would sound OK, though.

'I meant' sounds better, and would be even more convincing with the addition of an adverb e.g. 'yesterday' or 'last week'. The rest of the sentence would obviously then use simple past also: 'I meant to do it yesterday, but I just didn't have the time'. There are also phrases such as 'I was meaning to do it'.

Thank you for the answer. Could you tell me also if,
"I was meaning to do it, but I just haven't found the time" would be acceptable?

Yes, that one is fine.

An little extra tasty sweet topping: '...but I just haven't (been able to find/) found the time (this week/in the past few days etc)'.

Anyway don't worry too much about exact phrasings, there are usually at least several ways to say more or less the same thing, and even if you do make a mistake (not that you've made any here, or at least none that would be picked up on in speech), the listener will probably be able to work out what you meant no problemo.

Thank you very much!