[Vocabulary] Which is correct?

[Silverobama]

Merry Christmas,

By the time he arrives in Beijing, we ________ here for two days.

B. have been staying C. will have stayed


May I have your opinion and reason?


Thanks a lot

 

[5jj]

By the time he arrives in Beijing, we ________ here for two days.

B. have been staying C. will have stayed

Both are possible. B may suggest the on-goingness of the stay; C may suggest that the stay will come to an end at the time of his arrival, or soon after.

We'd need more context to be able to say whether one is more likely than the other.

 

[lauralie2]

Both are possible. B may suggest the on-goingness of the stay; C may suggest that the stay will come to an end at the time of his arrival, or soon after.

We'd need more context to be able to say whether one is more likely than the other.

Choice B. is definitely not acceptable in my dialect of English.


By the time he arrives in Beijing, we ________ here for two days.

B. have been staying :cross:

 

[5jj]

Choice B. is definitely not acceptable in my dialect of English.

By the time he arrives in Beijing, we ________ here for two days.

B. have been staying :cross:

Right, of course. (That it is not acceptable)
I read the question too quickly and thought that B was 'will have been staying.'

Sorry.

 

[BobK]

Right, of course. (That it is not acceptable)
I read the question too quickly and thought that B was 'will have been staying.'

...

That option (a sort of mixture of B and C) is the one most people would use in most cases (except when the context called for B).

Note: the lettering seems rather fluid; there is no A. ;-)

b

 

[lauralie2]

Note: the lettering seems rather fluid; there is no A. ;-)

The original test question is:


31 By the time he arrives in Beijing, we __________ here for two days.


A) have been staying
B) have stayed
C) shall stay
D) will have stayed

 

[Barb_D]

But I want to say "will have been" and not "will have stayed."

 

[lauralie2]

But I want to say "will have been" and not "will have stayed."

What about ellipsis?

A. By the time he arrives, we will have been (staying) here for two days.

 

[Rover_KE]

But I want to say "will have been" and not "will have stayed."

Me too, Barb. To me none of the above is natural.

Rover

 

[5jj]

What about ellipsis?
A. By the time he arrives, we will have been (staying) here for two days.

No. 'Will have been' stands as it is.
I agree with Barb and Rover - this is the most natural.
Assuming that we use this (i.e. 'will have been'), I feel that it is far more likely that we are using it for what it is than as an elliptical version of the (less than natural) 'will have been staying'.

 

[BobK]

The original test question is:


31 By the time he arrives in Beijing, we __________ here for two days.


A) have been staying
B) have stayed
C) shall stay
D) will have stayed

Maybe so, but you know this context from extrinsic information. The first one mentioned in the OP was B (unless Silverobama silently edited it out before I saw it), and - without wanting to unpick all the old discussions - I think one or more respondents referred to the OP's first example ('B') as ('A'). ;-)

b

 

[apex2000]

By the time he arrives in Beijing, we ________ here for two days.
B. have been staying C. will have stayed
May I have your opinion and reason?

A) have been staying
B) have stayed
C) shall stay
D) will have stayed

Reading all the comments raises more questions than answers. The OP (blue) makes two suggestions, B or C. Then from out of the blue I find 4 suggestions (red).

So, going back to the start the sentence refers to a future time (two days ahead). Therefore we should be saying we will have stayed here, or willhave been staying here.....

 

[bhaisahab]

By the time he arrives in Beijing, we ________ here for two days.
B. have been staying C. will have stayed
May I have your opinion and reason?

A) have been staying
B) have stayed
C) shall stay
D) will have stayed

Reading all the comments raises more questions than answers. The OP (blue) makes two suggestions, B or C. Then from out of the blue I find 4 suggestions (red).

So, going back to the start the sentence refers to a future time (two days ahead). Therefore we should be saying we will have stayed here, or willhave been staying here.....

I agree with the previous posters who said that "will have been here" is the natural way to say it "stay/ed/ing" is not necessary or natural. I agree that "By the time he arrives in Beijing, we will have been here for two days" refers to a future time, but not necessarily two days. Consider: "By the time he arrives in Beijing (tonight), we will have been here for two days".

 

[BobK]

:up:;-) Same here.

b