already

[sitifan]

John: I'll give Mary a French dictionary as a birthday present.
Alice: She __________ a French dictionary.
(A) has already had (B) has already (C) already has
Which option is correct?

[emsr2d2]

John: I'll give Mary a French dictionary as a birthday present.
Alice: She __________ a French dictionary.
(A) has already had (B) has already (C) already has
Which option is correct?

You try first. Which one do you think is correct and why?

[sitifan]

I think C is correct. But my colleague argues that A is right!

[bhaisahab]

I think C is correct. But my colleague Ariel argues that A is right!

C is correct. If we say that she has already had a French dictionary, we are saying that at some point in her life she had one, we don't know if he still has one now or not.

[5jj]

I think it's just about possible to say that she has already had a French dictionary if John is speaking on Mary's birthday about his plans to buy her a dictionary later in the day; Alice informs him that Mary has already had (= received) a dictionary, presumably earlier in the day.

That is contrived, but it should not be given as an option in a test question of this nature.

[sitifan]

I think it's just about possible to say that she has already had a French dictionary if John is speaking on Mary's birthday about his plans to buy her a dictionary later in the day; Alice informs him that Mary has already had (= received) a dictionary, presumably earlier in the day.

What does "about" mean in the quoted sentence?

[5jj]

If something is just about possible, it is almost not possible.

[sitifan]

Just about possible

[5jj]

sitifan, I am a native speaker, and I used it to mean 'almost not possible'.

[Tdol]

Much as I respect Mr Micawber, I can't honestly see much difference- it's a very small chance and whether one views a chance close to zero as a positive or negative thing isn't greatly different- it's still close to zero. If it's almost not possible, it's possible.