A little English question.

mjt said:
Well no, but then neither did the other sentence account for where you might live in the future.

The problem is that English grammar has many rules and contexts.

Does the use of the present perfect in the original sentence in the OP make sense to you now? :p
How else would you phrase it?
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I would phrase it '.. And wants to learn..' as opposed to 'has wanted to learn'.
 
mattyfez said:
I would phrase it '.. And wants to learn..' as opposed to 'has wanted to learn'.
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Well unfortunately for you, "Rachel loves music and wants to learn how to play the violin for years." Means something totally different.

You could leave out "for years" and it would have course be grammatically correct. But then you've changed the meaning of the sentence by leaving out a crucial part of the context.

I should charge you £30 for this lesson :p
 
Ok, what I meant was 'and wants to learn how to play violin.' full stop, carry on..

..I wanted to drive a Ferrari for years. I don't care one way or the other now.
 
mattyfez said:
Ok, what I meant was 'and wants to learn how to play violin.' full stop, carry on..

..I wanted to drive a Ferrari for years. I don't care one way or the other now.
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But by not using the present perfect you have changed the meaning completely!
 
mattyfez said:
The original sentence is ambiguous and open to interpretation.
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Only if you don't understand the present perfect. Which is why it's now being taught in year 6 :p

Dude, I do this for a living and just have you a free grammar lesson. Be grateful :D
 
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Trucamo said:
It isn't if you understand the present perfect. I stepped away mjt, you may want to do the same :p
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Damn it, I knew I should've read page one. So much for an early night.

Mattyfez, the invoice is in the post. And I've charged you VAT!

But on a serious note, this thread really highlights the need for children to be taught grammar properly. Mind you, just looking at thread titles in here will tell you that :o
 
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No war dude, just read what I wrote. Shame I didn't go to sleep an hour ago instead of trying to explain the present perfect to you :(
 
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