since - for

[Paulfromitaly]

Hello everybody,
Is a sentence like " I'm home for 2 hours" in any way misleading?
Does it only mean " I'm home/ I've been home since 2 hours ago" or also " I'm gonna be home for 2 hours more" ?

 

[la reine victoria]

Hello everybody,
Is a sentence like " I'm home for 2 hours" in any way misleading?
Does it only mean " I'm home/ I've been home since 2 hours ago" or also " I'm gonna be home for 2 hours more" ?

Hello Paul,


It means,literally, "I am at home for two hours (then I'll be going out [understood]).

You can say,

"It's 9 o/clock. I came in at 7 o/clock, which means I've been at home for two hours."

"It's 9 o/clock. I'm going to be at home for two more hours, which means I shall be leaving at 11 o/clock."



LRV

 

[Paulfromitaly]

So the meaning is:
"It's 9 o/clock. I'm going to be at home for two more hours, which means I shall be leaving at 11 o/clock"
and if I want to say something like :
"It's 9 o/clock. I came in at 7 o/clock, which means I've been at home for two hours." I should say "I've been home since 2 hours ago".
Correct?

 

[Kelly B]

I would generally understand the sentence "I'm home for 2 hours" to mean that you will be home for two more hours [from now], then you will leave.

This is quite different from "I've been home for 2 hours" or "I arrived/got home two hours ago" or "I've been home since 7:00." I would use the word since when you specify the hour, but not the length of time.

 

[Paulfromitaly]

So "I've been home for 2 hours" is the best way to say "I got home 2 hours ago and I'm still at home", isnt it?

 

[la reine victoria]

So "I've been home for 2 hours" is the best way to say "I got home 2 hours ago and I'm still at home", isnt it?

Excellent, Paul.




LRV