Diamondrg  +  579409 Thu, 23 Oct 08 05:31 PM We've had a pretty bad time while you were away. In fact, we very nearly split up this time.(Collins Advanced Dictionary) Is this sentence correct? I want to attract your attention especially to the underlined parts. Diamondrg Joined on Fri, Dec 2 2005 Contributing Member 1,043

	Grammar Geek  +  579414 Thu, 23 Oct 08 05:36 PM I'm not going to say it's incorrect, but I'm left doubting whether the "bad time" is over. You left. Sometimes after you left, the bad time started. Now you're back, and the bad time is still going on. But somehow, the decision to NOT split up is already made? That part is what confuses me. We realize the bad time is possibly going to continue, but we won't split up... for now? Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,683 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random!

	CalifJim  +  579432 Thu, 23 Oct 08 06:20 PM Diamondrg “We've had a pretty bad time while you were away.” It's not uncommon to hear this sort of thing, but it contains an anomalous tense sequence, which you are already aware of, it seems. CJ  CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,475 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche Tenses

	Diamondrg  +  579437 Thu, 23 Oct 08 06:37 PM Hi, Grammar Geek. If it were the simple past instead of the present perfect, you would not doubt whether the bad time is over, but as it is the present perfect, you can't be sure, right? I mean the present perfect does not ncecessarily indicate that the condition still holds. Is that right? Diamondrg Grammar, Simple Past, Present Perfect

	Grammar Geek  +  579464 Thu, 23 Oct 08 08:03 PM Usually it does indicate that the condition still holds, or that there's a connection or relevance to the present. Grammar Geek