He has been away from home for ten months.

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Alice Chu

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1. He has been away from home for ten months.
It means that he left home ten months ago and hasn’t returned yet.

Are the following two sentences correct?
2. He has left home for ten months.
3. He has been leaving home for ten months.
 

5jj

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1. He has been away from home for ten months.
It means that he left home ten months ago and hasn’t returned yet.
It's not impossible that he has returned.
2. He has left home for ten months.
3. He has been leaving home for ten months.
Both are possible in the right context.
 

Yankee

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I would need to see additional context for 2. & 3.
 

5jj

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Alice should be able to provide it if she has thought about the responses to similar questions in other threads she has started.
 

Alice Chu

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I am sorry, but I cannot provide it because I don’t know what sentence 2 and sentence 3 mean in the right context.
Could you please give me examples and explanations?
 

5jj

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If you can't think of a context for an utterance you have made up, then I fail to see any point in discussing it.
 

Madness1

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2. He has left home for ten months.
3. He has been leaving home for ten months.

Not a teacher

2 means that he decided to leave his home for ten months and hasn't returned yet - he is not back home yet, but he will be.
3 means that it took him ten months to leave home. He is not home anymore - he has already left.
 
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5jj

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3 means that it took him ten months to leave home. He is not home anymore - he has already left.
It does not necessarily mean that he has already left. In fact it probably means that he hasn't left yet.
 

Madness1

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It does not necessarily mean that he has already left. In fact it probably means that he hasn't left yet.
Oh yes, I forgot about that completely. :up:
It could also mean that he is still preparing to leave.
 

Rover_KE

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Madness1, please read this extract from the Posting Guidelines:


You are welcome to answer questions posted in the Ask a Teacher forum as long as your suggestions, help, and advice reflect a good understanding of the English language. If you are not a teacher, you will need to state that clearly in your post. Please note, all posts are moderated by our in-house language experts, so make sure your suggestions, help, and advice provide the kind of information an international language teacher would offer. If not, and your posts do not contribute to the topic in a positive way, they will be subject to deletion.

 
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