He has been ill since last week and still doesn’t feel well.

[Alice Chu]

Do the following sentences have the same meaning?
Is the third sentence correct?
1) He has been sick for a week and still doesn’t feel well.
2) He has been ill since last week and still doesn’t feel well.
3) He has been sick since a week ago and still doesn’t feel well.

 

[jutfrank]

I really don't know what you mean by 'the same meaning'. I don't think that's a good question at all. You should be looking at, and asking us about, the differences between them. Your starting point should be an assumption that different sentences have different uses. Your aim should be to find out what those differences are, and then you'll be on the way to learning how to use them for yourself.

We'll assume that the word ill in sentence 2 is meant to be sick.

 

[Tdol]

#3 works for me.

 

[Tarheel]

The second one doesn't mean the same thing as the others.

 

[Alice Chu]

I think sentence 1 means that he started to be sick seven days ago and is still sick now. If sentence 3 is correct, it has the same meaning as sentence 1.
I wonder if sentence 2 has the same meaning as sentence 1. Are there any differences between them?

 

[Tarheel]

In my opinion the first one is most natural. If I were you I would simply ignore the others.

(The phrase "since last week" entails a variable time span.)

(My opinion.)

 

[jutfrank]

I don't think you're approaching this in quite the right way, Alice. You should start with the meaning and use. Think about a situation first, including who is speaking to whom, and what the speaker really wants to do.

We use for + period of time when we want to focus on a duration, or how long something has been going on. We use since + point in time when we want to focus on a starting point, or when something started.

Which one of these two do you imagine is in the speaker's mind? Is she more concerned with the length of time that he's been ill, or with when he started to feel ill?

 

[probus]

#3 works for me.

That's interesting. I'd have said 3 was at least a bit unnatural, if not outright incorrect. It would probably never be used by native speakers from Canada.

 

[emsr2d2]

That's interesting. I'd have said 3 was at least unnatural, if not outright incorrect. It wouldn't be used by native speakers from Canada.

I agree. I wouldn't use "since + time period + ago".

I've been a member since 2010.
I became a member 11 years ago.
I've been a member for 11 years.

 

[Alice Chu]

The phrase "since last week" only tells us something started during the last week, and we don’t know on which day it started. Is my understanding correct?

If the phrase "since last week" doesn’t mean something started seven days ago and it is still true now, what can I say to express that when I can’t say “since a week ago”?

 

[emsr2d2]

Yes, "since last week" is imprecise. Today is Sunday. If I said today "I've been ill since last week", you would have no idea when I started feeling ill. It could be any time from last Sunday to probably Thursday just gone. To give you sufficient information, I'd have to say "I've been ill since last Tuesday" or "I've been ill for five days".

 

[jutfrank]

Would you answer my questions in post #7 please, Alice Chu?