Actually "they have been broken up" and "they have broken up for 2 years now" would both be considered mistakes. "They broke up two years ago." "They have been apart or separated for two years now." Q.

1. Only (D) is possible: His grandpa has been dead for ten years. (A) is impossible because we cannot use present perfect with a specific time reference. (B) is gramatically possible but makes no sense unless after 10 years the grandfather was

The "rule" of not mixing active and passive only applies where it is possible to make all the parts active or all passive. Further note that the example on that website is of a sentence of two independent clauses joined by

1.Several thousand people were killed by the earthquake in China. 2.Several thousand people had been killed by the earthquake in China. I know the first sentence is fine. It is a passive sentence. It is not correct to say 'has been

Hi Kooyeen I really don't have any statistics on which tense would be more frequently used in informal AmE in a passive sentence like yours. But I do think that we're more likely to the present perfect in "Damn! My bike's been stolen!" than to use

HI again Amy, I'm so sorry... I still don't understand and I have the exact same problem, LOL. I think we are not understanding each other well, so I'll try to be clearer now. Yankee wrote: I agreed with you that, in AmE, using the present

Hi Kooyeeen I agreed with you that, in AmE, using the present perfect would be more "natural" in that sort of passive sentence than it would be in the active version of the same sentence. However, I also wanted to emphasize the fact that you added

Yankee wrote: I do see your point, though. I suppose we would tend to be more "willing" to use the present perfect in a sentence such as " My bike's been stolen. " -- especially with "Damn!" preceding it. Still, I wouldn't find " Damn! My bike

Yankee wrote: If you decide to use the present perfect, then it doesn't matter whether the sentence is active or passive. You have decided to use the present perfect. Period. Likewise, if you decide to use the past simple, then it doesn't matter

If you decide to use the present perfect, then it doesn't matter whether the sentence is active or passive. You have decided to use the present perfect. Period. Likewise, if you decide to use the past simple, then it doesn't matter whether the