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ESL forum > Ask for help > Transformation    

Transformation



zvonka.rink
Slovenia

Transformation
 
Dear colleagues,
 
I need your help.
 I asked students to transform this sentence using WHEN:
 
-How long have Helen and Tom been to the USA? 
 
Some of them came up with this sentence:
 
-Since when have they been to the USA? 
 
Is this sentence OK (meaning)?
 
Thank you for all your answers in advance. 

28 Nov 2019      





douglas
United States

This one is a little difficult in that the original sentence is not quite right. It would make sense if it used:
 
How long have Helen and Tom been in the USA?
or
How long has it been since Helen and Tom went to the USA? ...were in the USA?
 
You could change the first  to: Since when have they been in the USA? It sounds a little awkward, but we do use it.
 
So ultimately I would say your students answer was okay.
 
Cheers,
Douglas

28 Nov 2019     



zvonka.rink
Slovenia

I can see the mistake now. I thought something is not right and I suspected the preposition.
Thank you. 

28 Nov 2019     



Sharwong
Canada

 Is it a FCE/CAE sentence transformation exercise?  If so then the meaning of the question would change.
 
I would say although the question is grammatically correct "Since when have they been in the USA"  it would elicit a different answer than the original sentence "How long...".  The original asks for a length of time whereas the transformed sentence asks for a point in time.  
 

28 Nov 2019