I have a question for you. 2

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English

Apr 16th 2011 16:42

Long time no see. How have you been?

I'm fine. I've learned English vocabulary using DUO since I wrote in my last diary.

By the way, I have a favor to ask. May I ask you a question?

Actually, I'm not sure this sentence "It's been five years."

I understand the meanings but I don't understand "It's" that much.

Which is correct, "It is" or "It has"?

I'm so sorry to hear a boring question for you.

I'm looking forward to learning the answer.

よろしくお願いします。m(__)m

sick4paradise

Apr 16th 2011 16:53

"It has". If it helps, you can think of it as "It has been 5 years (since _____)."

Apr 16th 2011 17:17 takaya

Thank you so much, sick4paradise^^

Apr 17th 2011 00:11 Brian

That is not true. "It's" always means "it is". "It is been five years." is not correct. You wouldn't want to write "It's been five years." because then it seems like you don't know what you're talk about. However, it is okay to SAY "It's been five years." as it is not unusual to create contractions like that in conversation that are not real words. This is similar to how some words are slurred together for ease when speaking. Other examples of this would be saying things like "Mom'll take us to the baseball game later." for 'Mom will'. Or "We'd've taken the back roads if we had known how back traffic would be." for 'We would have.'

Saying these is ok, writing them is not.

Brian

Apr 17th 2011 00:39 takaya

Thank you for teaching that politely^^ Recently, as I studied English using the book which is for conversation in English, "It's" might be used. Since I could scarcely tell "writing" from "conversation", I think I was not sure "It's". But, Thanks to your polite explanation, I can understand that. Thanks, Brian. Have a nice weekend. :3

Apr 17th 2011 05:29 Matthew

Sorry Brian, I'm going to have to disagree with you there. Every source I'm looking at, from dictionary.com to Merriam-Webster say that "it has" is an accurate translation of "it's". I'm not trying to be a jerk here; I'm trying to prevent the spread of misinformation.

"It's" is a colloquial expression but it is grammatically correct to say, "It has been five years".
The reason that is must be "has" and must be correct in this situation is because "has been" is a grammatical pattern all by itself and follows its own rules for conjugation. To assume anything to be concrete as "'it's' must always be 'it is'" would be a foolish mistake and contradict grammar. In short, "it has = it's" is more than possible; it's been common for a while now.

Now with that said, "it's" should only be used in casual situations, like talking to your friends, speaking with people and so on. But when you're doing professional writing, avoid contractions (it's, you're, they're, he's, aren't, words like that) because it's considered improper and sloppy writing.

Takaya, I hope that helps.

Apr 17th 2011 11:29 takaya

Thank you so much, Matthew! I'm going to use "It has" as often as possible from now on, talking to someone or writing something. After I'll be familiar with talking to foreigners in English, I'll use "It's" too. Thank you, Matthew.