Bob, where have you been?

Question

Hi,I'm not really sure what I should answer to "Where have you been?"I don't see Bob around... ah, hey Bob, where have you been?I was repairing my pickup...I've been repairing my pickup......(other possibilities)I don't see Bob around... ah, hey Bob, where have you been?I was trying to repair my pickup...I've been trying to repair my pickup......(other possibilities)I'd like to know what the common ways to answer are and, in particular, what would be the difference.Thank you.

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

You can answer lots of ways, as you indicated.

Sometimes it's just a way of saying 'hello', so you can also just give no real answer at all, eg

Nowhere special.

Here and there.

Best wishes, Clive

Kooyeen · Answer

Yes, thank you, I see.

But, mine was more of a problem related to verbal tenses, in particular "present perfect continuous".
I recently found out that the present perfect continuous implies that the action is still ongoing. The action could have just stopped, but there has to be a result now. No result and no good context = the action is still on going. Anyway, I remember seeing an example like "Bob, you are late! --- Sorry, I've been studying". He just finished studying, and a present perf. continuous is used anyway... but there's a result, the result is he's late.
So I was wondering if these answers, for example, imply something different or they are all the same:

I don't see Bob around... ah, hey Bob, where have you been?
I reapaired my pickup.
I was repairing my pickup...
I've been repairing my pickup...

Thank you.

CalifJim · Answer

Hey Bob, what did you do? I fixed* my pickup.
Hey Bob, where have you been? I've been fixing my pickup. I was fixing my pickup. *I fixed my pickup.

Completed actions can't be the response to Where have you been?

CJ

*It may be 'just me', but I can't get a good mental picture of a speaker who uses both 'repair' and 'pickup' in the same breath. To me, repair is a register 2.5 and pickup is a register 1. I'd fix a truck myself and have the butler arrange for the repair of the limousine.

CJ

Kooyeen · Answer

Thanks, but it's still not clear to me if...

CalifJim Hey Bob, where have you been? I've been fixing my pickup. I was fixing my pickup.

Are those two answers practically the same? I mean, the present perfect continuous is used when the action is still ongoing. You can use it when the action just ended, but there's a result now ("What's all that oil on your shirt?" -- "Oh, nothing, I've been fixing my pickup"). I once used to think that "I've been searching for two hours" didn't imply that I was still searching (I also asked here about that). So I'm afraid there could be some differences between those two answers.

CalifJim *It may be 'just me', but I can't get a good mental picture of a speaker who uses both 'repair' and 'pickup' in the same breath. To me, repair is a register 2.5 and pickup is a register 1. I'd fix a truck myself and have the butler arrange for the repair of the limousine.

Well, that is part of "speaking idiomatically", a great achievement for a learner. I'm not too obsessed about that, I know it takes years, but I'm trying to improve as quickly as possible, anyway.

Thanks in advance.

CalifJim · Answer

Hey Bob, where have you been? I've been fixing my pickup. I was fixing my pickup.
Are those two answers practically the same?

Yes, practically. I wrote them as two possible answers to the same question. Likewise:

Hey, Bob, where were you? I've been fixing my pickup. I was fixing my pickup.

Again, I see these as two possible answers to the same question. In informal situations I don't think people are particularly meticulous about matching the tense of the answer with the tense of the question.

CJ

but I'm trying to improve as quickly as possible, anyway.I sensed that in your posts. That's why I included the extra tidbit about word choice. If it ever gets overwhelming, you can ignore all my extra information. I won't be offended!

CJ

Kooyeen · Answer

Thank you so much.
Could you please also take a look at these? I added "for nearly two hours"...

Hey Bob, where have you been?
I've been playing basketball for nearly two hours dude... (does this now sound as if I were still playing? I'm not sure it still sounds good after adding "for nearly two hours". Remember I'm not playing anymore...)
I've played basketball for nearly two hours dude...
I played basketball for nearly two hours dude...

Thanks

CalifJim · Answer

Even though you're not literally playing basketball at the exact time of the utterance, you have been doing so quite recently, so the first version is completely acceptable -- and the preferred one. The time lapse between the cessation of an activity and correctly using the present perfect continuous is variable. It's more a mental time than a physical time, I suppose.

Let me give you another example. Suppose you are painting the kitchen. The phone rings. You can tell your friend on the phone that you've been painting the kitchen even though you had to stop painting the kitchen to answer the phone! The next day at work you can tell your colleagues that you've been painting the kitchen even though you are at work. (In neither of these would I add "for X hours", however.)

The second version doesn't work. It gives the impression (to me, at least) that you are capable of playing basketball for two hours because you have done so at some time in your life, maybe months ago, not necessarily recently.

-- You're in bad shape. You have no stamina.
-- Not so. I have plenty of stamina. I've played basketball for nearly two hours!
-- Yeah, but I'll bet that was years ago!

The third version sounds like an answer to the question What did you do yesterday?

CJ

Kooyeen · Answer

Thank you again Jim, but now there's a new problem!

CalifJimThe time lapse between the cessation of an activity and correctly using the present perfect continuous is variable. It's more a mental time than a physical time, I suppose. I understand that, and I think it's not a problem for me...

CalifJim Let me give you another example. Suppose you are painting the kitchen. The phone rings. You can tell your friend on the phone that you've been painting the kitchen even though you had to stop painting the kitchen to answer the phone! I understand this too. The fact is that you are actually still painting the kitchen, you stopped for a little but you haven't finished yet.

CalifJim The next day at work you can tell your colleagues that you've been painting the kitchen even though you are at work.??? Not sure what you meant here

Anyway, the problem is that I was told that I can't use the present perfect continuous if the activity described has already come to an end, unless it just ended and there is a result now. Examples:

-- It's been raining for two hours. (it's still raining)
-- The streets are wet... of course, it's been raining for two hours. (just stopped, but there's a result)
-- I didn't find that pic, dude... sorry, I've been searching the net for two hours. (I thought it could mean I might have finished searching, but I was told that that sentence always implies that I'm still searching, I haven't finished yet)

That's why I find strange you would use the past p. cont. in certain situations. You even said:

Even though you're not literally playing basketball at the exact time of the utterance, you have been doing so quite recently, so the first version is completely acceptable

How could you have been doing something quite recently? I thought you could have been doing something up to now, and you did something recently or until recently.

Thank you in advance.

CalifJim · Answer

It's all a big puzzle, isn't it?

I see your point about pausing to answer the phone. So that may not be the best example of what you're asking about.

In the "at work" situation, it might have been clearer this way:
The next day at the office (at your place of work) you can tell your colleagues that you've been painting the kitchen even though you are there with them (at work) in the office, not at home painting the kitchen.
Here again you will object that going to the office and putting in a day's work there is just a pause in the painting project, so again this may not be the best example.

unless it just ended and there is a result now.

It doesn't have to be a result -- not a concrete and literal result, anyway. It just has to be something of current relevance. If you are asked where you've been, you can still say "I've been playing basketball" even if you have discontinued the basketball-playing activity. The current relevance is in the question itself. "Where have you been?" can be interpreted as "What have you been doing (currently, recently, just now, ...)?" -- and answered with that in mind.

How could you have been doing something quite recently?

I'm getting a glimmer of what you mean here. I think you conceive of recently as a point in time, whereas I conceive of recently as either a point in time or a period of time. I have been Xing quite recently says to me I have been Xing within a period of time extending from a relatively short time ago up to the present moment. I hope I haven't been using either recently or the present perfect continuous tense incorrectly all these years!

These all sound OK to me.

I've been watching TV recently.
I've been posting on English Forums recently.
I've been calculating my income taxes recently.

m-w.com has
recently: during a recent period of time
recent: of or relating to a time not long past

So:
I've been watching TV during a recent period of time.
... etc. ...

CJ

Kooyeen · Answer

Thank you again for your reply.

CalifJimIt just has to be something of current relevance. If you are asked where you've been, you can still say "I've been playing basketball" even if you have discontinued the basketball-playing activity. The current relevance is in the question itself. "Where have you been?" can be interpreted as "What have you been doing (currently, recently, just now, ...)?" -- and answered with that in mind. I would see the use of present p. cont. in that answer as something similar to "Where have you been? I've been waiting for you for two hours!" ...so I think the reason is that the present p.c. sounds good with "where have you been", and not that it's usually used when action are already finished. See below...

CalifJim These all sound OK to me. You are right, here recently = lately. But...

I've been watching TV recently. I guess you don't see that as a finished action. If you are not watching TV now, you'll watch it again later or tomorrow.
I've been posting on English Forums recently. Same as above. You still post in this forum. I guess you wouldn't say that if you were not posting anymore.
I've been calculating my income taxes recently. You are still calculating them. I guess you wouldn't say that if you weren't still calculating them.

So the point is I think the PPC implies that the action hasn't ended yet, unless there is a result related to the fact that the activity has taken place. Examples of actions that really just ended, on the phone:

- Hey Bob, are you still painting that huge kitchen of yours?
- No, Thank ***, I'm finally done! I just finished, I was starting to get tired! I've been painting the kitchen for quite a while! (this should be ok. You just finished painting the kitchen, but there's a result: Painting the kitchen for a while ---> you start to get tired)

- Hey Bob, how's it going?
- Umm, well, my boss just fired me this morning... so you know, I'm not so happy at the moment. Well, I've been working there for nearly four years, and blah, blah, blah... (Not ok, I think. You are not working for him anymore, and there's not a result related to the fact you worked for him. I would probably change the tense to either simple past or present perfect)

- Hey Bob, how's it going?
- ****, I'm so mad at my boss! He just fired me this morning... It's not fair dude! I've been working for him for almost ten years! (I was told this is not ok. But I think it's possible. You don't work for him anymore, but there's a result: I've been working for him for many years -----> Having worked for him for many years drives you mad, you should have been a trusted member, but you got fired anyway)

All that stuff to say that I believe (because I've been corrected many times) that the present perfect continuous is not just used to point out what happened in the recent past and is not ongoing now, or something not much related to a result... Just what I learned, but I'd like to be corrected if I'm wrong. Thank you.

Bob, where have you been?

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