jack112  +  120599 Sat, 23 Jul 05 12:14 PM Scenario: A cop pulls me over for doing a U-turn and he asks me why I did a U-turn. I say: 1. Sorry for my careless driving.  I'm lost and I have been driving on this straight for a long time trying to make a turn. 2. Sorry for my careless driving. I'm lost and I had been driving on this straight for a long time trying to make a turn. Should I use past perfect or present perfect here? Which one is the best? Why? Thanks. jack112 Joined on Thu, Jul 22 2004 Regular Member 715 Past Perfect, Present Perfect

	Mister Micawber  +  120647 Sat, 23 Jul 05 03:09 PM Use present perfect, Jack-- you're still driving, and you're still lost. Mister Micawber Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004 Yokohama Veteran Member 30,773 'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'

	jack112  +  124080 Fri, 05 Aug 05 08:36 AM  Mister Micawber wrote: Use present perfect, Jack-- you're still driving, and you're still lost. 1. I'm lost and I have been driving on this straight for a long time trying to make a turn. (Present perfect is sitll okay? I jsut made an U-turn though? I'm not on that road anymore?) jack112 Present Perfect

	Mister Micawber  +  124100 Fri, 05 Aug 05 10:33 AM Yes.  This straight runs both ways-- to be fair though, the sentence is not quite natural, as this straight does not sound right to me.   So perhaps I misunderstood the original.  Let me try to rephrase it.  Is the following equivalent?-- Cop:  Why did you hang that Uey, buddy? Jack:  Sorry, officer-- I'm lost and I've been driving on this straightaway for a long time trying to make a turn. Yes, the present perfect is OK here; the miscreant is still driving on the same stretch of roadway, albeit in the opposite direction.  Frankly, I think the driver could as easily have used any of the 3-- present perfect, simple past, or past perfect continuous. Mister Micawber Past Perfect, Simple Past, Present Perfect