have.. have been.. ? grhghhhr!!

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Hi
is this sentence correct?

I'm aware of the fact that the earth's layers have been being created for thousands of years
to dziwne - ale widzialam, duzo takich zdan z ...have been being..
Wg szkolnego angielskiego forma "have been being" nie istnieje. Ze wszystkich czasow ciaglych to tylko Present Continuous i Past Continuous.

The beautiful songs are/were being sung by the birds.

:-)
Jak to nie istnieje? Przecież to po prostu present perfect continuous
present perfect continous w passive voice do tego ;)
tłumaczyłam to zdanie na wyczucie i ta wersja wydała mi sie najlepsza
ale chyba 'were being created' tez moze byc?
raczej perfect powinien byc... moze po prostu have been created??
samo "have been created" znaczy, ze te warstwy juz sie utworzyly i dalej sie nie tworza; "have been being created" znaczy co innego.
It doesn't really fit a passive form, as what would the subject be? Created by who? I'd suggest 'the earth's layers have been forming for...'

Belch
ale mi to tak ładnie brzmi w passive voice..;D
have been being formed..?
mnie tez.
Yes, it may sound nice to you, but trust me, it doesn't sound nice in English. In fact, it sounds kind of awkward. What is your subject to fit the passive form that forms the earth?

If it's for anything important, I'd suggest sticking with the perfect continuous form, otherwise it'll come off strange. But hey, it's your life; if you like it, go for it.


Cheers
trust me - it sounds good in English. 'It'll come off' - that sounds awkward to me.
It doesn't sound nice because it's not heard often, but it's correct.
Terri, are you a native speaker of English? If so, perhaps you need to brush up on your phrasal verbs.

To come off--http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=come+off

58. come off, Informal. a. to happen; occur.
b. to reach the end; acquit oneself: to come off with honors.
c. to be given or completed; occur; result: Her speech came off very well.
d. to succeed; be successful: The end of the novel just doesn't come off.

Eva, I agree the form is not grammatically incorrect, but I'll try to reiterate why I think it sounds weird--

Active voice: I'm aware of the fact that something (that is, the subject needed for the verb to create) has been creating the earth's layers for thousands of years. What has been creating the earth's layers? Granted, the passive voice doesn't need its subject included, but I still wonder what that subject might be.

It's just my opinion. Take it or leave it.

Cheers
Terri, I retract my comment regarding whether or not English is your mother tongue. It was impulsive, and I don't like flame wars anyway. The other comments I made stand.

Cheers
I do understand the basis of phrasal verbs - perhaps all too well. In your sentence 'it will come out' might have been more correct rather than 'it will come off' as that still sounds strange to me. I don't always rely on what the net has to say for collocations - the net is limited in that it only recalls the written word, and that's only a percentage of the usage of the English language.
terri ;D
are you native?
i'm curious too ;P
English Freak
I'm a blonde.
Hey, Terri,

Well, I'm Australian, so I guess that's kind of native... although a lot of Australians don't really speak Queen's English (as exemplified in the following sentence: if a mate comes up with a real corker of a story, don't crack a shit if you can't come up with yer own ripper yarn). But I am qualified and have been teaching for three years.

Cytat:
I do understand the basis of phrasal verbs - perhaps all too well. In your sentence 'it will come out' might have been more correct rather than 'it will come off' as that still sounds strange to me. I don't always rely on what the net has to say for collocations - the net is limited in that it only recalls the written word, and that's only a percentage of the usage of the English language.


As it has been pointed out previously in other threads, being a native speaker of English (qualified or not) doesn't necessarily make one the be-and-end-all of the English language. What I'm saying is that it's simply better if you've not heard something to check it out. Dictionary.com is a personal favourite of mine.

This is the listing for 'come out':

43. come out, a. to be published; appear.
b. to become known; be revealed.
c. to make a debut in society, the theater, etc.
d. to end; terminate; emerge: The fight came out badly, as both combatants were injured.
e. to make more or less public acknowledgment of being homosexual.

Whereas the listing for come off-- c. to be given or completed; occur; result: Her speech came off very well.-- seems much more suitable. But hey, let's not argue over the semantics of a comment I made.

Cheers
to me, the difference is one between a planned vs. unplanned action
speech came off well
fight came out badly
Sounds bang on to me.
Hi Australian,
First, I have a weakness for Australians, all the ones I've met have been ever so fit. Yes I did understand the sentence. A real corker. As to 'come out' and 'come off'I think the differences lie in the way English is spoken in GB and Australia.
If you're ever in Krakow we could 'argue' over the semantics in my favourite bar.
>If you're ever in Krakow we could 'argue' over the semantics in my
>favourite bar.

what if the cork, eh, won't come out?
mg-
it will. Everrything is always open to discussion and my favourite bar is open until my last drink.
terri!

me stupid!
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