0
Tuongvan Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

He has been watching TV

Dear teachers,
Can I say like this?:
He has been watching TV every night this week
He has watched TV every night this week

Are these two sentences the same in meaning?

Thank you in advance
  

Top answer

They both mean that he has spent the evenings watching TV this week. The first (has been watching) puts more emphasis on the time it must have taken and is slightly more pejorative in tone. The second (has watched) puts emphasis on the fact, and, obviously, is slightly less critical in tone; indeed it could be an emotively neutral statement of fact.

— Thomas Tompion

  • They both mean that he has spent the evenings watching TV this week.
  • The first (has been watching) puts more emphasis on the time it must have taken and is slightly more pejorative in tone.
  • The second (has watched) puts emphasis on the fact, and, obviously, is slightly less critical in tone; indeed it could be an emotively neutral statement of fact.
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

2 Answers
0
They both mean that he has spent the evenings watching TV this week.

The first (has been watching) puts more emphasis on the time it must have taken and is slightly more pejorative in tone.
The second (has watched) puts emphasis on the fact, and, obviously, is slightly less critical in tone; indeed it could be an emotively neutral statement of fact.
0
0
There are two time spans to consider -- the time of the entire week, and the time within each night. You can interpret each of these sentences from either viewpoint.
TuongvanHe has watched TV every night this week
Where the focus is on the week: The speaker views the period of TV watching as closed, complete. The speaker is only interested in events that hav
0

Related Questions