Is the question and the answer natural?

[5jj]

It's 16:44 pm and I haven't had my lunch yet.

Either '16.44' or '4.44pm'. I having spent a total of some twenty years out of England, and some of my time in England in uniform, prefer the former, but most civilian native speakers prefer the latter, or, in conversation, ' just on/before quarter to [BrE] four (in the afternoon)'.

 

[emsr2d2]

So sorry. I should have written, 'He almost never gets up late.' I should very hungry. It's 16:44 pm and I haven't had my luch yet.

I'm confused. The underlined part above is exactly what you wrote. That is the problem. The piece does not say "He almost never gets up late", it says "He almost always gets up very early". Those two things are not the same.

I used to work in a job where I had to leave my house at 5am (that's very early for me). I had to get up at 4.30am to get ready. I don't think anyone would argue with the fact that I got up very early on those days. However, if I ignored my alarm clock for twenty minutes and then shot out of bed at 4.50 in a panic and had to run round the house getting ready to leave in a rush but still managed to leave at 5am, both of the following statements would be true:

- I got up late.
- I got up very early.

 

[learning54]

I'm confused. The underlined part above is exactly what you wrote. That is the problem. The piece does not say "He almost never gets up late", it says "He almost always gets up very early". Those two things are not the same.

I know the don't mean the same. Let's see if I am right.
a) "He almost never gets up late." It means, 'He practically never gets up late, so almost always on time. Right?
b) He almost always gets up very early. It means, 'really early in the morning, maybe 4:00 or 5:00 am'. Right?

This is the piece, I made a mistake when I wrote it.
'After the discussion with Mr.Landon, Robert almost never gets up late. Now it’s only half past seven in the morning and he is having a large breakfast in the kitchen'.

 

[emsr2d2]

I know the don't mean the same.
a) "He almost never gets up late." It means, 'He practically never gets up late, so almost always on time. Right?
b) He almost always gets up very early. It means, 'really early in the morning, maybe 4:00 or 5:00 am'. Right?

Yes, right.

This is the piece, I made a mistake in writing it.
'After the discussion with Mr.Landon, Robert almost never gets up late. Now it’s only half past seven in the morning and he is having a large breakfast in the kitchen'.

OK, well, now we can see where the confusion is. The error in your earlier version of the piece had a huge effect on our answers! This is what I now think:

Q - Why is he almost always on time for work these days?
A - Because he almost never gets up late.

Although implied, we can't really say that the conversation with his boss is the actual reason that he is now on time for work. That could lead to a follow-up question:

Q - And why does he almost never get up late these days?
A - Because he had a discussion with his boss [about his time-keeping].

... although to be absolutely sure that that would work, we would need to know what comes before "After the discussion with Mr Landon ..."

 

[learning54]

... although to be absolutely sure that that would work, we would need to know what comes before "After the discussion with Mr Landon ..."

Hi,
Thank you so much for your patience and replies. The last one you have given me fits completely.;-)


I mean this one:
Q - Why is he almost always on time for work these days?
A - Because he almost never gets up late.


Learning

 

[emsr2d2]

And it only took us three pages of posts to get there! :-D

 

[learning54]

And it only took us three pages of posts to get there! :-D

Hi,
So sorry about it. But many thanks for all your help, I really appreciate it.