[Grammar] Present perfect continuous - negation + EVEN, YET

[Gilbert]

The other day, me and some teacher had a bit of a fight over the following sentence:

?I haven't been working with him for a week and I already hate him.


The meaning she says it conveys is "it has only been a week, which I consider a rather short time to start hating someone", which I just don't agree with. To my ears, the following sentences sounds much better:


I haven't even been working with him for a week and I already hate him.

I haven't been working with him for a week yet and I already hate him.

(syntactically speaking, there is something strange about the even/yet items, definitely worth looking deeper into it)



Am I right assuming the "extra" items do make a hell of a difference?

Thanks a lot!

 

[bhaisahab]

The other day, me and some teacher had a bit of a fight over the following sentence:

?I haven't been working with him for a week and I already hate him.


The meaning she says it conveys is "it has only been a week, which I consider a rather short time to start hating someone", which I just don't agree with. To my ears, the following sentences sounds much better:


I haven't even been working with him for a week and I already hate him.

I haven't been working with him for a week yet and I already hate him.

(syntactically speaking, there is something strange about the even/yet items, definitely worth looking deeper into it)



Am I right assuming the "extra" items do make a hell of a difference?

Thanks a lot!

All three sentences convey the same meaning to me. The "even" and yet" might add emphasis, but IMO they are not necessary.

 

[Pedroski]

Your teacher is nearly right, except: 'I haven't been working with him for a week' says that a week has not yet passed. Less than a week has passed.

'even' and 'yet' belong to a category called 'negative polarity items'. They are strange.
Compare the sentences:
I haven't even been working with him for a week and I already hate him.
*I have even been working with him for a week yet and I already hate him.
I haven't been working with him for a week yet and I already hate him.
*I have been working with him for a week yet and I already hate him.

They are ok in negative sentences, but in positive sentences, they can't/shouldn't be used.

 

[Raymott]

The other day, a teacher and I had a bit of a fight over the following sentence:

R.

 

[Gilbert]

Thanks.
A couple of notes:

- I know what NIP's are However, there seems to be quite a few people posting to UsingEnglish who are native speakers of English but did not receive any linguistic training. As a matter of fact, it's this kind of people and their spontaneous reactions that is most important to me (regarding this particular issue, of course).

- I did mean to say "some teacher". I'm perfectly aware of the implications of some used in place of the indefinite article; besides, she's not my teacher and I'm not one of her students either. (Disclaimer: I hope this sounds more clarifying than rude, I can't really tell, English not being my native language.)

 

[Raymott]

Thanks.
A couple of notes:

- I know what NIP's are However, there seems to be quite a few people posting to UsingEnglish who are native speakers of English but did not receive any linguistic training. As a matter of fact, it's this kind of people and their spontaneous reactions that is most important to me (regarding this particular issue, of course).

- I did mean to say "some teacher". I'm perfectly aware of the implications of some used in place of the indefinite article; besides, she's not my teacher and I'm not one of her students either. (Disclaimer: I hope this sounds more clarifying than rude, I can't really tell, English not being my native language.)

"Some teacher and I ..." then. "Some teacher" does sound disrespectful in this context, but perhaps you meant it this way. "A teacher" only implies that the person is a teacher; not that s/he is your teacher - so there's no reason on that account not to use 'a'.
The important point is that "Me and some teacher" as a subject is substandard English.

What are NIPs?

 

[Gilbert]

NPI's...
And yes, I did mean the first sentence to sound disrespectful, although the "she's not my teacher" remark was only intended to make things clear.

Anyway, MORE REACTIONS as to whether I haven't been working with for a week and I already hate him. sounds just OK or not ARE WELCOME.

 

[Raymott]

NPI's...
And yes, I did mean the first sentence to sound disrespectful, although the "she's not my teacher" remark was only intended to make things clear.

Anyway, MORE REACTIONS as to whether I haven't been working with for a week and I already hate him. sounds just OK or not ARE WELCOME.

There's not much more to be said.
"I haven't been working with him for a week and I already hate him" doesn't mean "I've only been working with him for a week". The first implies less than a week; the second implies at least "about a week". But the original sentence is OK if in fact, it has been less than a week. I'm still not sure what a NIP or an NPI is though.

 

[e2e4]

I haven't been working with him for a week and I already hate him.

Is it possible to say it this way below

Even though I haven't worked with him for a week I hate him.

or

I hate him before I've worked with him for a week.

Thanks