Taka  +  235254 Mon, 12 Jun 06 04:43 PM This is a compositon of a student of mine: I thought you might have been to another concert hall. Can you come where I am soon. What she is trying to say by the sentences is something like 'I thought you went to the wrong concert hall. Can you come right away to the place I'm waiting?' Do the sentences, especially the parts in red, sound OK to you native speakers? Taka Joined on Tue, Sep 7 2004 Japan Senior Member 2,625

	CalifJim  +  235276 Mon, 12 Jun 06 06:34 PM Sound OK?  No, not in the intended reading. I thought you might have been at another concert hall. I thought you might have gone to another concert hall. I thought you had gone to another concert hall. I thought you were at another concert hall. The second sentence is particularly unidiomatic, in my opinion. come almost focuses on the motion, whereas get focuses on the arrival, and it's the arrival that's needed. How soon can you get here? Can/Could you get here fairly soon? Do you think you could get here [fairly soon / in ten minutes]? Can you get here within the next half hour (if you hurry)? And probably a thousand other variants! CJ CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,379 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche

	Taka  +  235280 Mon, 12 Jun 06 06:50 PM  CalifJim wrote: Sound OK?  No, not in the intended reading. RIght. I somehow knew it didn't; I just wan't 100 % sure if my intuition was right.  CalifJim wrote: And probably a thousand other variants! But her 'come where I am' is not included, right? What if her sentence was 'Come to where I am' instead? Does it still sound weird? Taka

	CalifJim  +  235283 Mon, 12 Jun 06 07:04 PM Right.  I can't think of a case where the round-about "where I am" would be used for the simple "here" when it means "here".  All of those "where I am" cases sound weird. (This does not mean you can never use "where I am", of course: Some days I'm so overworked I don't even know where I am! ) CJ CalifJim

	Taka  +  235621 Tue, 13 Jun 06 05:19 PM  CalifJim wrote: Right.  I can't think of a case where the round-about "where I am" would be used for the simple "here" when it means "here". Well, about the round-about-ness, we can say 'Stay where you are!', though, can't we? Taka

	CalifJim  +  235628 Tue, 13 Jun 06 05:36 PM Yes.  And the response might be "OK.  I'll stay where I am." -- simply as an echo of "where you are".  So there are a few special cases where "where I am" might pop up, that's true. CJ CalifJim

	Believer  +  235902 Wed, 14 Jun 06 09:58 AM Hi, I was looking pretty closely at your sentences and have been wondering if the first sentence of the four sentences listed might not have been constructed to render the intended meaning as the other three. I thought you might have been at another concert hall. I construe the meaning of the first sentence, I thought you might have been at another concert hall, as him thinking the "you" person having gone through staying at (that) another station and most likely that that person is not there now, whereas the rest of the three seems to say that he is still there. A little discrepancy there, I think. Please tell me if my educated intuition is incorrect. Thank you.  Believer Joined on Mon, Jan 2 2006 Contributing Member 1,969

	CalifJim  +  236080 Wed, 14 Jun 06 06:03 PM Good observation! might have been (at ...) is tricky. In one reading, it means exactly what you said. It is possible that you were at that place, but now are no longer there. In another reading, it means the following: It is possible that you have been (waiting) at that place, and are still there. In this reading it is a very near equivalent to might be (at ...) But backshifting interferes somewhat as well, so that thought pairs with have been the way think pairs with be. I think that you might be there. I thought that you might have been there. OR: I thought that you might be there. (because backshifting is not required) CJ CalifJim