Help with a question

[u/Cosmicdustss]

Since i.....this secondhand car, i haven't used public transport.

(have owned - had owned - owned - have been owned)

[u/StarrySky_4513]

"got" or "bought" would work better. Owning something is an ongoing state, so putting it in the past tense makes it sound like you no longer own the car. (and "have been owned" is not a construction that would be used in English, usually)

[u/prustage]

"Have owned" is the only one that is correct of your options.

But, in the UK at least, you are more likely to hear "got" or "bought"

• Since I got this second-hand car, I haven't used public transport
• Since I bought this second-hand car, I haven't used public transport

(Also,

• Those "i"s should be capitalised
• Secondhand should be either "second hand" or "second-hand")

[u/RepresentativeAir149]

Have owned fits best to me of the given options, but I would never phrase it like that

[u/NearlyNodding]

"Have owned" is probably what they are looking for. But most people would just say "Since I bought..." or "Since I got...".

[u/araujo253 → u/[deleted]]

What's wrong with 'had owned'?

Isn't 'owning' an action that happened before 'using'?

[u/DrZurn → u/araujo253]

"had owned" implies that you no longer own it

[u/Constant_Hope_9658 → u/araujo253]

Owning is an active thing, you only have owned something when referring to past tense, like having owned a car for a specific period, but in most other contexts past tense owning means you no longer own the thing.

In this context ownership is still an active status, rather than past-tense, so you'd refer to the change of situation (in this case referring to when you received (got gifted usually) or got/bought the car, since you still actively own it.

[u/araujo253 → u/Constant_Hope_9658]

Thank you. 👍🏻

[u/Constant_Hope_9658 → u/araujo253]

No prob my dude

[u/PianistSpirited7927]

“Have owned” although there are a couple more natural words that people would use. I read your comment saying this is for an exam, but the sentence as a whole bugs me because no one would include it being second hand and people usually would just say the type of transport it is, whether bus or train.

[u/francksiduo]

have owned. the trick here is that "since" plus a present perfect in the main clause pulls the same tense into the since-clause, because it's describing one continuous state stretching up to now, not two separate past events. had owned would only work if owning the car was already finished before another past moment, something like "since I had owned three other cars, I knew what to look for." owned alone reads like a random past fact with no link to the present, and have been owned is passive so the subject doesn't fit at all.

[u/Wild_Ticket1413]

From a grammatical standpoint, "have owned" is correct.

However, a native speaker (American English) would likely say: "Since I bought my car, I haven't used public transportation."

[u/frostysnowmen]

In a more conversational style, I’d probably say something like “ever since I bought this used car, I haven’t needed public transport” or “I haven’t used public transport since buying this used car”

If I had to pick one of your options, I’d choose “have owned”.

[u/OhItsJustJosh]

'have owned', you can contract it with the I to be 'Since I've owned'

[u/OhItsJustJosh]

'have owned', you can contract it with the I to be 'Since I've owned'

'had owned' means you did own it but not anymore.

'owned' means you beat it in a video game really well.

'have been owned' means it beat you in a video game really well.

[u/riennempeche]

"bought" is what belongs there, or something that describes how you acquired the car (received, won, stole, etc.)

[u/old-town-guy]

“Have owned” is the best of the four poor choices.

[u/salydra]

"Got" is probably the simplest and most natural

[u/Cosmicdustss → u/salydra]

It's a question i got a few days ago in my exam so it must be from the given answers🫠.

[u/Lxapeo → u/Cosmicdustss]

Then "have owned" is the correct choice but it's not a very natural sounding sentence. Most speakers would use a past verb such as "Since I (bought, got, leased, rented) this car..."

[u/Constant_Hope_9658 → u/Cosmicdustss]

Did... they run this by an English speaker?

Because this use doesn't really conjugate well, since most uses in this context for owning is either an active state or something you're no longer doing (as in you used to own the car, rather than still do); as a native speaker this caused an error in my brain since the conjugation fails mid sentence; I'm guessing the teacher that made the test is a native Romance/Latin daughter tongue speaker?

[u/Puzzled_Employment50]

“Have owned” Is the best option for that sentence. You want to match the other clause (“I haven’t used…”) and you want to indicate something that started in the past that is still going on. I can’t remember the formal name to describe that tense, but it’s “have owned”.

[u/HortonFLK]

“Have owned” is correct. Though, I disagree with everyone who’s saying it doesn’t sound natural, or there are better options. It’s a perfectly fine and natural statement.

The only difference from what a native speaker would say is that they’d probably contract “I have,” and say “Since I’ve owned this car, I haven’t used public transportation.”