[Vocabulary] We are completing two months of online classes.

[beachboy]

We are completing two months of online classes (said by a non-native speaker).

If I'm not mistaken, complete is not the right verb to use in the sentence above. Is there a verb that can substitute it? Would I have to rephrase the whole sentence?

 

[jutfrank]

You're right—it seems that the verb completing is not right.

What do you think the person who said this was trying to say?

 

[beachboy]

The person meant It's been two months since we started our online classes.

 

[beachboy]

In Portuguese we use the verb completar with this idea. We say Hoje é meu aniversário, estou completando 27 anos, meaning Today is my birthday, I'm turning 27.

 

[jutfrank]

In that case, it seems as if they should have said:

We have completed two months of our online course.

If this is right, then complete was the right verb—it was the tense that was wrong.

 

[jutfrank]

In Portuguese we use the verb completar with this idea. We say Hoje é meu aniversário, estou completando 27 anos, meaning Today is my birthday, I'm turning 27.

Yes, it's the same with complete in English, in a very basic way. (See my correction above.)

 

[beachboy]

Yes, it's the same with complete in English, in a very basic way. (See my correction above.)

Do you mean it's right to say Today is my birthday, I've (just?) completed 27?

 

[emsr2d2]

Do you mean it's right to say "Today is my birthday, I've (just?) completed 27"?

No. We don't use "complete" with age.

Today I'm 27!
Today is my birthday. I'm 27.
Yesterday was my birthday. I turned 27.
Yesterday, I turned 27.

 

[jutfrank]

Do you mean it's right to say Today is my birthday, I've (just?) completed 27?

I meant that the meaning of complete is similar to completar in a basic way. They both can be used to say how much progress has been made.

Although it's not right to say I've completed 27 years when talking about your birthday, it does make sense to some extent.