Learn English – Usage of present perfect tense with other tenses

sentence-construction

A : How are you feeling ?

B : I have been feeling better since …………

a) the doctor has come
b) the doctor will come
c) the doctor had come
d) the doctor came

So which option is right and why?

Thanks

Best Answer

I have been feeling better is a statement about your present state; the present perfect construction indicates that that state started in the past. The since clause designates the start of that state, the point in time at which it began. In this case it began with an event, the doctor's coming, which was completed in the past.

  • That cannot be expressed with a), the present perfect, the doctor has come, because that, again, designates a present state.
  • It cannot be expressed with b), the future, the doctor will come, because that designates an event which has not happened yet.
  • It cannot be expressed with c), the past perfect, the doctor had come, because that designates a past state which came after the doctor's coming.

It is properly expressed with the simple past form, answer d):

I have been feeling better since the doctor came.