I had/have been away for a week

[EngLearner]

John went on vacation and returned to the office after a week. His colleague Sarah, a new employee on her first day at work, asked him to fill her in on what had been happening at the office recently. John said:

1. I got back to the office from vacation just yesterday. I had been away for a week, so I can't help you much with that, sorry.

2. I got back to the office from vacation this morning. I have been away for a week, so I can't help you much with that, sorry. (Said in the afternoon or later that same day.)

Do you agree with how I've used the tenses in bold?

 

[probus]

Personally I'd use the first, "had been", but "have been" would be used by many native speakers, so it's also okay.

 

[EngLearner]

I used "had been" with "yesterday and "have been" with "this morning." Do you mean it's possible to use either tense in either sentence?

 

[PeterCW]

I would use "have" in both examples. In a real conversation I would normally say "I have" as "I've".

I am not a grammarian and can't explain why, it's just what comes naturally to me as a native speaker.

 

[EngLearner]

How about these:

3. I got back to the office from vacation the day before yesterday. I've/I'd been away for a week, so I can't help you much with that, sorry.

4. I got back to the office from vacation three days ago. I've/I'd been away for a week, so I can't help you much with that, sorry.

Would you say "have" or "had"?

 

[5jj]

You can’t set precise rules on these situations.

Most of us would probably use the forms I’ve used in the extreme examples below, but some people might use the other form.

5. I got back to the office from vacation yesterday evening. I've been away for a week, so I can't help you much with that, sorry.

4. I got back to the office from vacation last week. I'd been away for a month., so I can't help you much with that, sorry.

 

[jutfrank]

It all depends on whether you conceive your arrival back as still being part of the encompassed present time.