I hand't written (haven't written)

Status
Not open for further replies.

keannu

VIP Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Korean
Home Country
South Korea
Current Location
South Korea
I know present perfect is indicating the present state, not the past one, but in this example, does only "hadn't written" work as "until recently" is referring to a point of the past? "until recently" seemed quite similiar to the present point, so I chose "haven't written", but the answer is "hadn't written". I need a clear explanation.

ex)A: Is this the first book you've published?
B:No, but I hand't written (haven't written) an autobiographical work until recently.
a)I haven't written b)I had't written c)I won't be writing d)I'm not writing
answer - b
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
Until recently is pointing to a point in the past, and the composition of the book was before this point, and I think the question helps frame the time.
 

5jj

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 14, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
Czech Republic
Current Location
Czech Republic
'Recently' in Br E is a word that frequently refers to a past time-point so closely related, in the speaker's mind, to the present time-point that it is almost part of the broader present time period. This is why we speakers of Br E frequently use the present perfect with this word.

However, as Tdol pointed out, "Until recently is pointing to a point in the past", in your sentence at least.

There are no 'rules' about this - it's very much a matter of what is going on in the speaker's mind at the instant of speaking.

This is the sort of thing I do not like to see as short test items for learners. A native speaker can imagine the wider sort of context in which the utterance would be made, for example: "No, - it is not the first book I have published - I have published three novels - but when this one was published last month, I had not written an autobiographical work in the period up to last month".) I think it is asking too much of even quite advanced learners to imagine a context like this from just twenty words.
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
I agree that's it's a tough question- you can hear an examiner chuckling in the background. ;-)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top