Please help

[lisa666]

Hello everyone,
Could you please tell me which answer I should choose? Thank you!
It _____ so cold these days, so I will buy a coat. (A) is (B) has been

 

[5jj]

Hello everyone,
Could you please tell me which answer I should choose? Thank you!
It _____ so cold these days, so I will buy a coat. (A) is (B) has been

What do you think? You tell us, and we'll comment.

By the way, you need to omit one of the two sos, or change the first to very.

 

[lisa666]

What do you think? You tell us, and we'll comment.

By the way, you need to omit one of the two sos, or change the first to very.

Hi 5jj,
Honestly, I really can't decide which I should choose. That's why I ask for help here.
If both of the answers are acceptable, tell me the reason, please. Thank you.

 

[emsr2d2]

Here is a clue - look at the words "these days" - do they make you think of the present tense or a past tense?

 

[lisa666]

Here is a clue - look at the words "these days" - do they make you think of the present tense or a past tense?

Hi emsr2d2;839272,
Do you mean I should choose "is" ? Help me with the answer, please. Thank you.

 

[AlexAD]

Not a teacher, nor a native.
I'd be likely to go for the present perfect since it makes me think that because of cold weather has continued for some time (may be non-stop), it is sensible to go and buy a coat.
If it was today, I would choose the present simple.

 

[Raymott]

Hello everyone,
Could you please tell me which answer I should choose? Thank you!
It _____ so cold these days, so I will buy a coat. (A) is (B) has been

You could use either, but the sentence as a whole is awkward.

It would be better as:
It _____ so cold these days. So I will buy a coat. or
It _____ cold these days, so I will buy a coat. or better,
It _____ so cold these days, that I've decided to buy a coat. In this one "has been" is better.

 

[dut_thinker]

What do you think? You tell us, and we'll comment.

By the way, you need to omit one of the two sos, or change the first to very.

Dear 5jj

I have no idea why you asked lisa666 to omit one of the two sos. Did you mean it is not right to use `so` in one sentence at the same time.

 

[cereal_chick]

Hello everyone,
Could you please tell me which answer I should choose? Thank you!
It _____ so cold these days, so I will buy a coat. (A) is (B) has been

I would use "is" but if I had to use "has been", I would say It has been so cold lately.

[Not a teacher]

 

[Barb_D]

Dear 5jj

I have no idea why you asked lisa666 to omit one of the two sos. Did you mean it is not right to use `so` in one sentence at the same time.

It is incorrect as that sentence is written.

It's so cold that...
It's very cold, so...

 

[emsr2d2]

As you have seen there are two issues with the question. I apologise for missing the "so" issue in the first place.

As Barb said, using the first "so" makes the second one inappropriate. Remove or change the first, and the second is fine.

It is so cold that I need to buy a coat.
It is so cold that I am going to have to buy a coat.
It is cold so I need to buy a coat.
It is very cold so I need to buy a coat.
It is extremely cold so I need to buy a better coat.

That's the "so" dealt with. Now, onto the question. Let's remove the second "so" from the original question, because it's not really important to the original problem.

It _____ so cold these days, that I will buy a coat.
A) is B) has been

The phrase "these days" (to me, at least) means now. It may include the preceding day, days, month or when talking longer term, years, but it certainly includes "today" and suggests a likelihood of the situation remaining the same probably in the short-term. As far as I am concerned, "is" is the only word which fits.

It is so cold these days, that I will buy a coat.

If I were to start the sentence with "It has been so cold ..." I would follow it with something other than "these days", something which suggests the past.

It has been so cold these last few days ...
It has been so cold recently ...
It has been so cold lately ...

I would also, though, end the sentence differently in that case:

It has been so cold these last few days that I had to go and buy a coat yesterday.
It has been so cold recently that I realised my coat isn't warm enough. I'll have to buy a new one.

For me, "It has been so cold ... I will buy a new coat" just sounds unnatural. I would follow "It has been so cold" with another verb in a past tense.

 

[Barb_D]

I completely agree. Adding a "past" word like past few days, last few days, makes the present perfect wok much better.

It has been so cold these past few days ...
It has been so cold these last few days...

Those could work with "will" because the assumption is that the cold weather that started in the past is doing to continue for at least a few more days into the future.