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ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > DURATIVES
DURATIVES
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seansarto
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DURATIVES
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Other day, a colleague of mine here in China asked why this sentence is incorrect: "You mustn �t be away until I come back." Off the top of my head, I didn �t have a real good answer...It was a paygrade up for me...So upon a little research my reply became because only a punctual verb would anticipate a punctual action...but I wasn �t convinced with my explanation. Any thoughts? |
17 Apr 2015
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gabriel_aubert
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I don �t know if this is correct, but I think "to be away" is used to refer to a long absence (holidays, business trip, etc). The correct verb there should be LEAVE: "You mustn �t leave until I come back". |
17 Apr 2015
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cunliffe
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Gabriel �s alternative sounds good. Although I don �t know the rule, the original sounds fine to me. I can imagine saying that to a colleague in the sense of... �I am off now for my holiday, so you can �t be away till I get back. � |
18 Apr 2015
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olka0207
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Gabriel and Cunliffe - you �re right, "leave" is the best for this particular context and it sounds much better :) Another alternative could possibly be "You mustn �t go out...", but I prefer "You mustn �t leave..."
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18 Apr 2015
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yanogator
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Yes, "leave" is the best alternative. The reason the original is wrong is the word "be". If your friend is leaving for a trip this afternoon, and you might not be home from work yet, you can say, "You mustn �t go away until I get back", but "be" doesn �t work. Bruce |
18 Apr 2015
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seansarto
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I knew "leave" was correct..but I wanted to know exactly why...probe the language for it�s reasoning...
"go" is dynamic/punctual...whereas "be in the phrasal of "be away" is stative/durative?
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18 Apr 2015
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yanogator
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I guess that �s the reason. Essentially, a stative verb doesn �t work (just a general observation, not any kind of a rule) with "until". Bruce
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18 Apr 2015
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cunliffe
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What about �You must be good until I get back � ? |
19 Apr 2015
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seansarto
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"Be away" is a phrasal verb..."Be" can be both stative and dynamic...(i.e.) "He is being good"....but not "He is being away." |
19 Apr 2015
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cunliffe
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Thank you. I understand this - I think... |
19 Apr 2015
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