Is this sentence correct to use in the following context?
"I took out the milk from the fridge. It has been in there for ages."
I mean, the milk is no longer in the fridge while the person says that.
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2 Answers
The first sentence sounds better as, "I took the milk out of the fridge."
Then you need a past tense, 'had', in the second to match with the first. "It had been in there for ages"
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Is it correct to use "had" because that particular milk had been in the fridge once and not many times? I mean other milks has probably been in that fridge before. Although, i don't know if there is an information from that sentence that this milk had been in the fridge once and not many times. Is there that information?– IamNotShepardJan 29, 2018 at 1:21
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1Alternatively, you could change the first sentence to match the first: I am taking the milk out of the fridge. It has been in there for ages. @IamNot - It doesn't matter how many times the milk has been in the fridge; what matters is how long it has been in there.– J.R. ♦Jan 29, 2018 at 2:35
I would venture to say that your sentence is grammatically correct although the first sentence is a bit wordy, the second sentence sounds natural to my English speaking ear.
Contextually, the second sentence is correct as well, as the sentence doesn't account for the current state of the milk (whether it is in the fridge or not), the sentence is declarative, which simply states that the milk has been in the fridge for a long time.
If the first sentence wasn't present to preface the second sentence, then the milk's whereabouts would matter more. But in this situation there is in reference to the previous sentences' fridge so it is inferred that the milk was in the fridge for a while.
Thus, regardless if the person makes this comment while holding the milk outside the fridge or if the milk is still resting in the fridge, the sentence is a fair declarative proposition.