extracted forms of verbs

[Lenka]

I am going to ask you a very stupid question. Actually, I would just like to make sure that I am right about sth. I feel very ashamed I do not know it for sure .

Is the sentence below correct, please?

I've not been waiting long.

Or do I have to say "I haven't been ..."?I am not sure whether the first sentence would be normally acceptable and considered right.

If the sentence really is right, is there a difference between "I've not been waiting long. " and "I have not been waiting long."? I mean, I know there is no difference in meaning; I'd just like to know if, for example, the second sentence emphasizes the negative "not" more or less than the first sentence.


(By the way, I'd really appreaciate if you corrected my English - as well as stylistics and punctuation (comma setting etc.).)

[BobK]

I am going to ask you a very stupid question.

I was told on a course once: "The only stupid question is the one you don't ask."

Actually, I would just like to make sure that I am right about sth. I feel very ashamed I do not know it for sure .

Is the sentence below correct, please?

I've not been waiting long.

Or do I have to say "I haven't been ..."?I am not sure whether the first sentence would be normally acceptable and considered right.

If the sentence really is right, is there a difference between "I've not been waiting long. " and "I have not been waiting long."? I mean, I know there is no difference in meaning; I'd just like to know if, for example, the second sentence emphasizes the negative "not" more or less than the first sentence.

They both sound OK to me. It's possible that 'I've not been...' is chiefly Br Eng - I defer to my transatlantic colleagues on this. But in the UK, they're both fine. And I detect no difference in emphasis.

(By the way, I'd really appreaciate if you corrected my English - as well as stylistics and punctuation (comma setting etc.).)

That was the only mistake I noticed! And "comma setting" sounds a bit odd; perhaps say "placing of commas" (or you could use placement, but that sounds a bit too formal.)

b

[Lenka]

Thank you very much, Bob!

I am surprised that the typo (apart from the weird expression "comma setting") was the only mistake I made. Thank you for the correction, indeed. It is good to hear I didn't make (or haven't made?) any mistakes this time!

As to the wrong collocation "comma setting", I didn't know how to express it in English. The only thing I knew was that they call it "Kommasetzung" in German - that's why I thought it might have been similar in English.

[BobK]

'It is good to hear I didn't make (or haven't made?) any mistakes this time!'

(You'd use the present perfect with an adverbial denoting duration: 'I haven't made any mistakes for weeks.')

b

[Lenka]

Thank you. You're really nice.