Here they are! They have been missing...

KooyeenHi,

I'm still without my glasses. I can't find them... Where are they? Hmmm... Oh, here they are! They have been missing for ages! - They had been missing for ages! - They missed for ages!

What should I say? Thanks

I agree. It emphasizes that they have been missing for some time until now. Started in the past, connected with the present, that's exactly what present perfect is for.

Here are the tense sequences you need.

I can't find my glasses. (Here they are!) They've been missing for days.
I couldn't find my glasses. (Then I found them.) They'd been missing for days.

CJ

Oh, very interesting... Thanks.
I guess that works because "missing" is probably considered an adjective. Or maybe I've found a weird thing about the present perfect continuous. A little example:

Where are my glasses? ...Oh, here they are! They've been lying on the floor for days!
Where are my glasses? ...Oh, here they are! -- Pick them up -- They've been lying on

I hope there's something wrong.

An odd thing to hope for.

In the last two examples, either They've been lying or They were lying. I think I prefer were lying.

CJ

Thanks... Well, the fact is that I was thinking about this:

If you use the present perfect continuous, the activity is still going on. Or it could have stopped, but there's like a result now, because of that activity that went on. Or there could be another kind of strong connection with the present situation. Now... They have been lying on the floor... What's the result of that? I think

Kooyeen, the moment you find the glasses use of the present perfect expires since the state (the glasses being missing) no longer prevails. You either have lost your glasses or you have found them but you can't have it both ways, so in my opinion it should be they had been missing for ages [but now I have found them].

does not affect the present situation at all, does it?

The present situation is that you've been looking for the glasses, and that you've found them. Those things wouldn't have happened if you hadn't lost them, and they hadn't been lying on the floor, so it seems to me that there is an effect on the present.

But of course there is a different interpretatio

CalifJimThat's why you have the choice between present perfect and simple past.

I can't imagine someone saying I've lost my glasses but now I've found them. How is it possible for the present perfect to still be current after the glasses have been found?

Hmm, thank you, very interesting... and a little confusing too. At first I thought I had to use the past perfect or past perfect continuous... This is because I still have trouble using the pesent perfect continuous and the the past perfect.