Present perfect with since: starting and ending times of a finished past event?

Question

I started reading at 9:00AM and finished at 10:00AM. The time is now 11:00 AM.

Which is correct to say?

1. I have read the book since 9:00 AM.
2. I have read the book since 10:00 AM.
3. I had read the book since 9:00 AM.
4. I had read the book since 10:00 AM.

Answer 1

None of the above options convey the fact that you read a book starting at 9 and stopped at 10 and it is now 11.

When we set a finished past event or state at a particular time in the past, we normally use the past simple:

I read from 9am to 10am.

When such an event or state was sustained over an extended time period, we may alternatively use the past continuous:

I was reading from 9am to 10am.

If something else "interrupted" such an extended activity or state, we use the past continuous:

I was reading this morning when I felt a ghost pass by my chair.

We can also use the following language:

I was reading the/a book from 9 until/to 10.

I read the/a book for an hour [this morning].

I read from 9 until/to 10.

These are merely options, not an exhaustive list of possibilities.

None of your options say this because they don't give a duration.

1. I have read the book since 9:00 AM.

This form is wrong, it could possibly be used to talk about a book that you read regularly since childhood:

I have read the book every year since I was little.

This means that you read the book once per year and have done since you were a child.

The more correct version for your usage would be:

I have been reading the book since 9 am.

But this implies that you are still reading it. There's no end to the event.

2. I have read the book since 10:00 AM.

This is wrong for the same reasons as version 1 with the added issue that it's not true. You stopped reading at 10 am.

3. I had read the book since 9:00 AM.

This is a very odd construction for this use. While it does imply that you are no longer reading the book, it again works better with a different use:

I had read the book every year when I was little.

In this case, you're saying that, as a child you read the book annually but do not anymore.... and "had" is optional.

A more correct version would be

I had been reading the book since 9 am.

This says that you are no longer reading but gives no indication of when you stopped, so it's better than 1 or 2 but still doesn't give all of the information.

4. I had read the book since 10:00 AM.

This has the same issues of 3 and 2 above... it is an odd phrasing and it's untrue because it means you started reading at 10 am. In this case, you could use "until" instead of since and get some improvement:

I had been reading the book until 10 am.

This is an acceptable construction similar to the ones at the top but it does not say when you started reading.

[This answer is a Catija/Jim Reynolds production]

Answer 2

None of these.

The most common way to say this would be, "I was reading the book from 9:00 am to 10:00 am". If you don't need to say when you finished, you could say, "I was reading the book at 9:00 am" or "I started reading the book at 9:00 am". Or if you want to indicate that you finished reading -- not necessarily read the entire book, but you are not reading it any more -- you could say, "I read the book at 9:00 am".

Using "since" indicates that you are still doing it. If you said, "I have been reading the book since 9:00 am", we would understand that to mean that you started reading at 9:00, and you are still reading now.