|
ESL Forum:
Techniques and methods
in Language Teaching
Games, activities
and teaching ideas
Grammar and
Linguistics
Teaching material
Concerning
worksheets
Concerning
powerpoints
Concerning online
exercises
Make suggestions,
report errors
Ask for help
Message board
|
ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > It īs years since ... or It īs been years since ...??
It īs years since ... or It īs been years since ...??
|
Isabel L
|
It īs years since ... or It īs been years since ...??
|
|
Hello, I īm just preparing a ws and I don īt know which is correct: It īs years since I last saw him or It īs been years since I last saw him? Thank you. |
11 Apr 2012
|
|
|
|
Yolandaprieto
|
|
When you use "since", the present perfect is the correct tense. Yolanda |
11 Apr 2012
|
|
|
ueslteacher
|
|
Well, Oxford Advanced Learner īs Dictionary has the following examples: It īs years since we last met.They haven īt seen each other for years.That īs the best movie I īve seen in years.We īve had a lot of fun over the years.So, I guess, itīs correct to say: Itīs years since I saw him last. Sophia
|
11 Apr 2012
|
|
|
chenchen_castrourdiales
|
|
As far as I know both tenses are right. The structure is as follows:
It is / has been + period of time + since + subject + (last)+ past simple tense
It is 2 years since I (last) bought a new pair of trousers.
It has been 2 years since I (last) bought a new pair of trousers.
Hope it helps. |
11 Apr 2012
|
|
|
deeedee
|
It depends on where you īre from.
Americans (like me) use the present perfect:
It īs been years since we did something.
The British (hence the Oxford clarification) use the present:
It īs years since we did something.
I, personally, prefer the former, but I am obliged to teach the latter because that īs what īs taught in Spanish schools. I had never heard the British structure used until I came to Spain and saw it in the English textbooks here. So, yes, both are correct, but if you are teaching British English, you, too, will want to teach the second structure.
|
11 Apr 2012
|
|
|
|
|
