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Sentence #4477935

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There is no sentence with id 4477935

Comments

Joseph Joseph September 3, 2015 September 3, 2015 at 1:54:14 AM UTC flag Report link Permalink

I don't know when the husband has called. > I don't know when the husband called.

Maybe even: I don't know when her husband called.

I don't know the other languages, so I'm not sure about "the" versus "her," but "has" shouldn't be there.

fekundulo fekundulo September 3, 2015 September 3, 2015 at 8:29:00 AM UTC flag Report link Permalink

It is not clear whose husband has not called.
What's wrong with has called?

cueyayotl cueyayotl September 3, 2015 September 3, 2015 at 8:59:00 AM UTC flag Report link Permalink

It sounds unnatural in English. Using the past perfect tense with clauses using question words (when/where/etc.) gives it a subjuctive mood: "Let me know when he has called."
In this situation, the event has clearly occured already, and so it sounds strange to a native.

fekundulo fekundulo September 3, 2015 September 3, 2015 at 12:03:19 PM UTC flag Report link Permalink

Past perfect means that the event has clearly occurred already. That is the meaning of the word perfect. It does sound unnatural, only because people tend to make shortcuts whenever possible.

Joseph Joseph September 3, 2015 September 3, 2015 at 2:09:33 PM UTC flag Report link Permalink

I am not enough of an English expert to say if it is 100% grammatically sound or not. However, the fact remains that a native English speaker would not write or say this sentence with "has" in it. In my opinion, it is misleading to someone learning English, as it may confuse them about the usage of "has called."

fekundulo fekundulo September 3, 2015 September 3, 2015 at 6:43:10 PM UTC flag Report link Permalink

technically, abbia chiamato (present perfect) translates to has called.
There are only two options:
1. either "has called" is identical to "called" or
2. "has called" has a different meaning altogether.
I believe they are identical, so I choose the former. There is no objection to introduce another variant.

Joseph Joseph September 3, 2015 September 3, 2015 at 7:05:17 PM UTC flag Report link Permalink

I did finally come with a situation where someone might actually say it the way you have it.

Someone knows that the husband has called multiple times, but they are unsure of the exact times that he had called.

cueyayotl cueyayotl September 4, 2015 September 4, 2015 at 12:26:37 AM UTC flag Report link Permalink

Right, we know WHY you have chosen the wording, and in Italian it is correct prescriptively as well as descriptively. Having spoke English all my life, I understand this type of clause "when/where/etc....(past perfect)" as being in the subjunctive mood rather than indicative past perfect (as you have intended). Language is not always logical; it does not always follow prescriptive rules, and I agree that it may be misleading to someone learning English.

Joseph Joseph September 4, 2015 September 4, 2015 at 1:20:04 AM UTC flag Report link Permalink

I could see a receptionist at a hospital or nursing home saying "the husband," but yes, it would be much less common.

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I don't know when the husband has called.

added by fekundulo, August 28, 2015

linked by Joseph, September 3, 2015

I don't know when the husband has called.

deleted by AlanF_US, June 8, 2018