tenses II

[navi tasan]

Part 1:
Consider:
A-I will have seen him on Monday.
Isn't this sentence ambiguous. I think it could mean two things:
1-I will see him before Monday.
2-My seeing him will have taken place on Monday.
(You are going to see him on Tuesday. But I'll have seen him on Monday. I will have seen him on Monday, that is before you see him on Tuesday.)
Is this analysis correct?

Part 2:
Could the sentence:
B-I had seen him on Monday.
mean that I saw him before Monday?
Consider:
C-I had already seen him on Monday.

 

[RonBee]

Commentary.

Part 1:
Consider:
A-I will have seen him on Monday.
Isn't this sentence ambiguous. I think it could mean two things:
1-I will see him before Monday.
2-My seeing him will have taken place on Monday.
(You are going to see him on Tuesday. But I'll have seen him on Monday. I will have seen him on Monday, that is before you see him on Tuesday.)
Is this analysis correct?

Part 2:
Could the sentence:
B-I had seen him on Monday.
mean that I saw him before Monday?
Consider:
C-I had already seen him on Monday.

The phrase "on Monday" indicates to me that you saw him that day. If I wanted to say "I will see him before Monday" I would use by and not on.

8)

 

[Tdol]

1-I will see him before Monday. - not really, IMO. It means you'll see him on Monday but are thinking about the act as completed. It isn't too happy a sentence. 'By' wouldbe closer to the 'before' meaning, although it's not exactly right.

2-I'd say this is making an assumption about the past- you're trying to work out which day it was, then you remember

 

[navi tasan]

What about this one:
A-"On Monday, I had already met him."
Can't this mean that I had met him before Monday?

 

[RonBee]

What about this one:
A-"On Monday, I had already met him."
Can't this mean that I had met him before Monday?

Yes.

8)

 

[Tdol]

It can, but it's a strange sentence. ;-)