perfect proggresive+when+present perfect

[ostap77]

Would this sentence be grammatically correct?

"Have you ever been watching a soccer match when your wife has been swamped with cooking for Thanksgiving Day?"

 

[bhaisahab]

Would this sentence be grammatically correct?

"Have you ever been watching a soccer match when your wife has been swamped with cooking for Thanksgiving Day?"

It's grammatical, but I can't imagine anyone ever saying it.

 

[ostap77]

It's grammatical, but I can't imagine anyone ever saying it.

I wanted to ask if it's possible to use these tenses instead of past progressive and past simple corresondingly when I want to emphasize two events that happend in the past and extebd it to the present?

 

[curates-egg]

=Not a Teacher+

In your sentence, the activities would not extend to the present.

 

[Raymott]

Would this sentence be grammatically correct?

"Have you ever been watching a soccer match when your wife has been swamped with cooking for Thanksgiving Day?"

I'd call it ungrammatical. You need 'was' for the second clause.

 

[ostap77]

I'd call it ungrammatical. You need 'was' for the second clause.

What if a cop talks to the nanny than comes up to another officer and says ''"I just spoke with the nanny. No sign anyone's been following her when she's been out with the baby."

I heard this on episode 8 of "The Listner"

 

[bhaisahab]

What if a cop talks to the nanny than comes up to another officer and says ''"I just spoke with the nanny. No sign anyone's been following her when she's been out with the baby."

I heard this on episode 8 of "The Listener"

It's OK.

 

[Raymott]

What if a cop talks to the nanny than comes up to another officer and says ''"I just spoke with the nanny. No sign anyone's been following her when she's been out with the baby."

I heard this on episode 8 of "The Listner"

Yes, that works.

 

[ostap77]

Yes, that works.

The problem with my sentence is because it's a question? Or is it because I used a passive construction in the second part?

"So you've been watching a soccer match when she's cooked lots of food for Thanksgiving Day."?

OR

"Have you ever been watching a soccer match when she's cooked food for Thanksgiving Day?"

 

[Raymott]

The problem with my sentence is because it's a question? Or is it because I used a passive construction in the second part?
I'm not sure. You want to know why I called the first example wrong and the second one right? I've changed my mind. It's not grammatically wrong. But there's a semantic problem.
"Have you ever been watching a soccer match when your wife has been swamped with cooking for Thanksgiving Day?"
I think it has to do with 'when' v 'while'. That is, when was she swamped with the cooking? I would say that she was swamped with cooking before you were watching the soccer match. She did not become swamped while you were watching the soccer. Her tasks were set out for her long before Thanksgiving Day. "She was swamped with cooking while you were watching soccer." and "You were watching soccer while she was swamped with cooking."
There's also the complication of whether "swamped with cooking" is an adjectival phrase or a past participial phrase. Given that she did not become swamped while you were watching soccer, it's an adjectival phrase.
So, from my perspective, the red sentence means something like, "Have you ever been watching soccer when someone came along and swamped your wife with cooking?" As bhaisahab said, it's grammatical, but its not usually what a person would mean.

Your second example:
What if a cop talks to the nanny than comes up to another officer and says ''"I just spoke with the nanny. No sign anyone's been following her when she's been out with the baby."
In this one, 'when' has to mean 'while'. If it didn't, it would read, "... when she's gone out with the baby."

The problem with determining whether unlikely sentences are grammatical or not depends to some extent on the meaning. The red sentence is grammatical if it means what it says, but not if it means what you probably think it says. If you give an argument that it's either grammatical or it isn't, then I change my mind. It is grammatical.


"So you've been watching a soccer match when she's cooked lots of food for Thanksgiving Day."?

OR

"Have you ever been watching a soccer match when she's cooked food for Thanksgiving Day?"

You can't use "when she's cooked". What I said was, "You need 'was'."
"when she was cooking".
But a sentence like this with, "Have you ever been doing something ... when ..." implies that you are doing something continuously when something happened at a fixed point in time.
By saying it wasn't grammatical, I meant you shouldn't model a sentence on it because it will not be what you want.

You probably mean something like, "Have you ever sat down and watched a soccer match while your wife has been swamped with cooking?" This is a template you can use.

 

[SoothingDave]

Are there Thanksgiving Days in countries other than the US and Canada?

I'm just wondering about this sentence, cause in the US we watch football on Thanksgiving. American football, not soccer.

 

[Raymott]

Are there Thanksgiving Days in countries other than the US and Canada?

I'm just wondering about this sentence, cause in the US we watch football on Thanksgiving. American football, not soccer.

No Thanksgiving here.

 

[bhaisahab]

No Thanksgiving here.

Nor here. Not in Ireland or India either.

 

[ostap77]

You can't use "when she's cooked". What I said was, "You need 'was'."
"when she was cooking".
But a sentence like this with, "Have you ever been doing something ... when ..." implies that you are doing something continuously when something happened at a fixed point in time.
By saying it wasn't grammatical, I meant you shouldn't model a sentence on it because it will not be what you want.

You probably mean something like, "Have you ever sat down and watched a soccer match while your wife has been swamped with cooking?" This is a template you can use.

As if my habit of watching the soccer coincided with her cooking dinner.?

What about "No sign anyone's been following her when she's been out with a baby.''?

I guess in this sentence "No ......anyone's been following her when......." refers to a single occurance in the past not something that lasted for a certain period as opposed to "But a sentence like this with, "Have you ever been doing something ... when ..." implies that you are doing something continuously"? Don't we say " Have you ever been watching something on the Internet...?" that, I might well assume, refers to a single occurance that lasted for .....shall I say half an hour.?

 

[ostap77]

She did not become swamped while you were watching the soccer. Her tasks were set out for her long before Thanksgiving Day. "She was swamped with cooking while you were watching soccer." and "You were watching soccer while she was swamped with cooking."

She could have become swamped with cooking since I wasn't helping her ?

 

[Raymott]

Don't we say " Have you ever been watching something on the Internet...?"

No, we don't. Not unless there's another clause in the simple past which happens while we're doing it.
"Have you ever been watching something on the internet when your computer blew up?"
You can use your original sentence if this condition is satisfied.
"Has you daughter ever berated you when you have been watching a soccer match while your wife has been swamped with cooking for Thanksgiving Day?"
But this is still an unlikely construction.

 

[Raymott]

She could have become swamped with cooking since I wasn't helping her ?

Then you'd phrase the sentence in a different way. Your sentence doesn't mean that.
"Have you ever watched soccer on TV on Thanksgiving say, causing your wife to become swamped with the cooking?" You'd still need a reason for using "been watching", as illustrated above.

The bottom line is that there are many sentences that are technically grammatical in English that we would never say because i) there are simpler, more understandable ways of saying them, and ii) because the construction implies a different meaning altogether.

* "I could be writing a sentence like this, but why have I chosen these strange yet grammatical tenses when no one will have ever spoken like this?" Grammatical, but silly.

 

[ostap77]

No, we don't. Not unless there's another clause in the simple past which happens while we're doing it.
"Have you ever been watching something on the internet when your computer blew up?"
You can use your original sentence if this condition is satisfied.
"Has you daughter ever berated you when you have been watching a soccer match while your wife has been swamped with cooking for Thanksgiving Day?"
But this is still an unlikely construction.

How about this one?

"Have you ever been watching something on your laptop and thought "Hey! This would be awesome if I could watch it on my TV."?

 

[bhaisahab]

How about this one?

"Have you ever been watching something on your laptop and thought "Hey! This would be awesome if I could watch on my TV."?

Yes, that's OK.

 

[ostap77]

Yes, that's OK.

In this question I could have also used the present perfect. What would be the difference? "Have you ever watched........."