Ahoj,

rád bych se zeptal na následující dvě dvojice vět. Vím, že správně jsou jen věty č. 1) a 3), ale neumím si gramaticky vysvětlit, proč tomu tak je. Z jakého důvodu nemůže být v hlavní větě předpřítomný čas, i když se jedná o děje, resp. stavy, které trvají od určitého bodu v minulosti až do přítomnosti?

1. She looks much happier since she got divorced.
2. She has looked much happier since she got divorced.

(ALE: She has been much happier since she got divorced. A nikoli: She is much happier since she got divorced.)

3. You can't own a person since 1863 when President Lincoln freed the slaves.
4. You haven't been able to own a person since 1863 when President Lincoln freed the slaves.

Děkuji předem za případnou odpověď.

1 (“… looks much happier since ..”, 2 (“… has looked much happier since …”, and 4 (“… haven't been able … since …”) are correct.

3. (“… You can't … since …”) is wrong.

1 tells us how she looks now, so present simple. 2 tells us she started looking happier at some point in the past and still looks happier at the time of speaking. 4 tells us the inability to own a person began at some point in the past and continues at the time of speaking.

3 is wrong, because “since” (in this context) tells us the action (of not being able own a person) began at some point in the past and continues at the time of speaking, but “can't” refers only to now. It doesn't tell us about the situation (of not being able to own a person) which began before now.

[You may hear or see “I can't get the car started since last Friday”. This is grammatically incorrect. (It should be “I haven't been able to get the car started …”). What has happened here is that the speaker says he can't get the car started, and then – mid-sentence – changes his train of thought to refer to the time (last Friday) when the problem (with starting the car) began to happen.]

Děkuji za vysvětlení, Dane! Jinak tu větu “You can't own a person, at least not since 1863 when President Lincoln freed the slaves.” mám ze seriálu The Big Bang Theory (epizoda “The Flaming Spittoon Acquisition”).

I would say this is a case of “changing your thought mid-sentence” that I described at the end of my previous post. The phrase “at least”, functioning here as an interjection, shows that a “new thought” has occurred to the speaker.