When + Present Perfect?

[johnnother]

Taken verbatim from the grammar book I have which is called "Fundamentals of Academic English" by Cesur Öztürk

I have no idea when he _______ here.

a) would get
b) has got
c) will get
d) had got
e) has been getting

The correct answer is "C" and I answered it as such but now that I took another look at it, it seems to me that "B" is just as equally correct. Couldn't the answer "B" be equally correct? Thanks

 

[emsr2d2]

Take a close look at what you've written for all the options. Are you absolutely certain that all the words were in the original? If they were, then take a look at the main sentence. Are you certain that all those words were there in the original? If the answer to both those questions is "Yes", then there's a major problem with the question.

 

[johnnother]

Yes to both. What's the problem with the question exactly? Could you explain it?

EDIT: Sorry, I've just noticed the mistake on my part. Fixed it now.

 

[emsr2d2]

B is not possible. Without "has", it would be grammatically correct, leading to "I have no idea when he got here". The present perfect doesn't work there. If the sentence started with "I had no idea ...", the present perfect would be possible.

 

[johnnother]

B is not possible. Without "has", it would be grammatically correct, leading to "I have no idea when he got here". The present perfect doesn't work there. If the sentence started with "I had no idea ...", the present perfect would be possible.

"I had no idea when he has got here" sounds really strange to me.

 

[5jj]

"I had no idea when he has got here" sounds really strange to me.

@ emsr2d2 made a slip there. She'll be back to correct it soon.

 

[emsr2d2]

"I had no idea when he has got here" sounds really strange to me.

Apologies. I changed tack halfway through the sentence. I meant to indicate that "I had no idea when he had got here" would be possible (past perfect). Sorry for the confusion. My brain was asleep!

 

[johnnother]

Thanks, but I still no idea why we can't use "has got" here. It sounds something a native would say or am I wrong in thinking that?

 

[teechar]

I agree "c" is correct, but "a" is also possible (grammatical). However, "b" is not correct. The present perfect is not used to point to a time-marker past event (an event/action used to mark a point in time in the past). The past simple (or possibly perfect) is used for that.