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Hi everyone -
I am now learning English as a second language. I have some questions, and I hope someone could answer them for me.
1.
a. Did you finish the book which you have been reading since last year?
b. Did you finish the book which you had been reading since last year?
c. Do you finish the book which you have been reading since last year?
Are they all correct? Which one is better? What are the differences between them? (By the way, is it the differences "between" them or "among" them?)
2.
The movie which you saw last week won three Oscars prizes.
Is this sentence correct? How about “three Oscar prizes”?
Thanks!
z7655431 said
Hi everyone -I am now learning English as a second language. I have some questions, and I hope someone could answer them for me.
1.
a. Did you finish the book which you have been reading since last year?
b. Did you finish the book which you had been reading since last year?
c. Do you finish the book which you have been reading since last year?
Are they all correct? Which one is better? What are the differences between them? (By the way, is it the differences "between" them or "among" them?)
I like a) the best. I think b) and c) are incorrect. I cannot give a good explanation why.
I would probably say "between" (as a result of bad habit?) although many would probably say "among" is better.
2.
The movie which you saw last week won three Oscars prizes.
Is this sentence correct? How about “three Oscar prizes”?
Thanks!
I like "three Oscar prizes" or "three Oscars" better. The double plural seems wrong.
Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV)
I agree with EmmettRedd on liking choice A. I'll tell you why ... choice B which uses "had" to replace "have" presupposes that you've already finished reading the book. So lacking any info about the status of your reading, A is just a better (more general) choice.
I would probably write "among" for more than 2 choices, but in casual conversation I'd say "between." That seems to be the trend anyway.
And I'll second the "three Oscars" since everyone knows it's a "prize" and that makes it redundant (or a double plural).
The simple present tense is best used to indicate habitual or repeated actions :
You start work at 8:00; what time do you finish?
As a matter of fact, I can't see any other way in which the simple present tense of the verb finish can work. In any case, the (c) statement is not good because it involves just one specific event. It has to be past or future.
Also, 'Since' is best to refer to a time that is far back enough to make sense as the starting point of a duration: Since 5 am, Since January, Since the 1820s, Since antiquity.
So "last year" in your statement doesn't make sense with Since, because you are having only 2 data points side by side, this year and last year. This is better : The book that you started reading last year.
z7655431 said
As for the expression "three Oscar prizes", how about "three Oscar awards"?
http://oscar.go.com/ is not working for me today, but the cached version does not seem to have much information. However, Wikipedia seems to make the distinction that the collection is denoted by "Academy Awards". The trophy (or statue) is called an Oscar. Therefore, "Oscar awards" seems a little redundant and "Oscars" by itself is the preferred usage.
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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