Verona_82
Senior Member
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2010
- Member Type
- Other
- Native Language
- Russian
- Home Country
- Russian Federation
- Current Location
- Ukraine
Hello,
Could anybody please explain why we go for the progressive in (2)?
(1) I haven't eaten anything today.
(2) I haven't been sleeping well in the last two days.
I'm trying to find a good explanation. Both periods of time - 'today" and 'in the last two days' - are unfinished. (1) is a statement of fact. Okay. But (2) could be regarded as a fact as well. Is it just because the action expresed by the verb 'eat' implies less duration than "sleep"? Or is it the time difference (today/in the last N days) that is crucial here?
Would "I haven't been eating much meat in the last two days" make sense? I think it would.
I'd be thankful for any help.
Could anybody please explain why we go for the progressive in (2)?
(1) I haven't eaten anything today.
(2) I haven't been sleeping well in the last two days.
I'm trying to find a good explanation. Both periods of time - 'today" and 'in the last two days' - are unfinished. (1) is a statement of fact. Okay. But (2) could be regarded as a fact as well. Is it just because the action expresed by the verb 'eat' implies less duration than "sleep"? Or is it the time difference (today/in the last N days) that is crucial here?
Would "I haven't been eating much meat in the last two days" make sense? I think it would.
I'd be thankful for any help.