Implications of Present Perfect (Continuous)

Question

I1) I hear some people's opinion that the Present Perfect Continuous may trigger an implication of a change of the current situationFor example:I have been living here for 3 years… (May imply that a speaker wants to change it. So he can go on saying something like) and now I have made up my mind to move away as I don’t like all the noise around this place.My questions are:1) Is it really true? Do you feel it that way? Or would you still use the Present Perfect if you wanted to make a change? 2) If it’s true. Does it always have this implication of a change to follow or is it only an option and there might be other implications ruling out the one being in question?                                                                                            II1) If there should be expressed a series of actions which tense should be used? The present perfect or the PPContinuous?For example:1) I have visited this place 3 times this week.Or2) I have been visiting this place 3 times this week.Or3) Both

Fivejedjon · Accepted Answer

Ticce I hear some people's opinion that the Present Perfect Continuous may trigger an implication of a change of the current situation

The present perfect continuous does not, in itself, suggest a possible change.

Ticce · Answer

I don't think that this is a satisfactory answer, fivejedjon. You might need to have a closer look at the following material

1) http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/prepersim-preperpro

If an action is still going on and we want to express that it is a permanent situation, we would usually use the Present Perfect Simple. For temporary situations, we would prefer the Present Perfect Progressive. This is not a rule, however, only a tendency.

Present Perfect Simple	Present Perfect Progressive
permanent James has lived in this town for 10 years. (Meaning: He is a permanent resident of this town.)	temporary James has been living here for a year. (Meaning: This situation is only temporary. Maybe he is an exchange student and only here for one or two years.)

2) http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/83983-present-perfect-continuous.html

starting from post 5 by David L.

3) Apart from that I have come across the same idea represented by native speakers in other forums. I just can't find the specific posts or threads but I am sure they exist and I can find them later if needed.

Fivejedjon · Answer

TicceI don't think that this is a satisfactory answer, fivejedjon.

You may think that. That's up to you.

TicceYou might need to have a closer look at the following material

I did (have a look, that is, not need to). The first words that struck me were, "This is not a rule, however, only a tendency."

Ticce · Answer

fivejedjonYou may think that. That's up to you.

Try walking in my shoes. You would say the same if you were me.

fivejedjonThe first words that struck me were, "This is not a rule, however, only a tendency."

It doesn't lessen the fact that this tendency exists in English, as you didn't object to it, hence it may be discussed. I just want to get more or less a pithy answer. It feels like you are trying to say that this question is not worthy of being discussed. If you feel that way you don't need to contribute. I would like to have an answer from a person who abides by this tendency and is willing to share their view on how and when to use it. The least I want is force anyone to do anything, especially when they are not willing to answer.

Enoon · Answer

Yes, fivejedjon can be maddeningly terse. Let me try: The present perfect continuous does not, in itself, suggest a possible change.

How's that?

Fivejedjon · Answer

enoonYes, fivejedjon can be maddeningly terse. Let me try: The present perfect continuous does not, in itself, suggest a possible change.How's that?

Thank you. The addition of the 't', which I carelessly omitted in'itself' in my original post, does indeed make it slightly less terse.

Dimsumexpress · Answer

Ticce,
This is my passing two cents. When learners come to the forum seeking English related help, no matter how unhappy one is with the answer, I feel that it is rude, disrespectful and unappreciative to bluntly challenge the answer, no matter how wrong you may feel the answer if you disagree.
That said, I have to agree with the previous posters. The main function of the present perfect is to connect past events and this events is still true in the relative present. Consider the following sentence:

I have worked for this company for 10 years. By itself, it has no implication of any kind. It is simply a statement of fact. However, depending on the realtive contexts, it's meaning can shift and can be suggestive.

It can be made to sound positive on one extreme: I have worked for this company for 10 years. It is time that I should get a promotion and a big raise.

But is can also be made to sound suggestively negative on the other extreme: I have worked for this company for 10 years. Maybe it's time to move on and see what opportunity is awaiting me out there.

Ticce · Answer

Hello enoon:
A few points...
You just proved what I already know.

1) Speaking a langauge fluently doesn't mean that the one who speaks it that way is able to explain things right. It needs some extra knowledge to notice a need/an issue raised by an asker and be able to meet it adequatly. The latter you definitely lack and the fact that your mother tongue is English can't fix it.

2) You read the original post caressly. It didn't register with you that I never said the oppossite as for:

The present perfect continuous does not, in itself, suggest a possible change.

This is what I said:

I hear some people's opinion that the Present Perfect Continuous may trigger an implication of a change of the current situation.

You might have trouble understanding the word - "may". It only suggests a possibility that this phenomenon exists. And indeed, it exists in a form of tendency.
I need to ask you then: Whom is your sentence addressed to? Not to me, as I never said the opposite.

3) You also demonstrate an ugly principle which few people follow in the forum. It states: I can be disrespective to askers because my first langauge is English and I am the boss. At least, this is why you decided to try to make a fool out of me and mock. But it's not that easy, you need to be really smart to make someone look a fool. Don't try before you are.

4) Try to follow good examples. Some of the brilliant guys in this forum are CJ, Clive and some others. You should learn from them how to answer properly without mocking and humiliating as it just humiliates you not your addressees.

I have shown you that what I want to discuss is not my fantasy and many native speakers find this tendency valid and they do use the PPC the way I described, so, there is no mess on my end. It's a delicate question to some extend as it talks about a tendency not a rule. If you can't be delicate don't contribute.

Fivejedjon · Answer

I suggest that people who post here concentrate on the language issues rather than on  analyses of the character defects of other people who post.

Fivejedjon · Answer

Present Perfect Continuous may trigger an implication of a change of the current situation.

It may – but it may not. The Present perfect continuous does not, in itself, suggest change.

I have been living here for 3 years… (May imply that a speaker wants to change it. So he can go on saying something like) and now I have made up my mind to move away as I don’t like all the noise around this place.

‘I have been living here for three years ...’ may not imply that the speaker wants to change it. He may go on to say something like ‘... and I have started to think that I might not leave.’ It is the context and co-text that make the full meaning clear.

Is it really true? Or would you still use the Present Perfect if you wanted to make a change?

It is true in so far as this form may trigger several ideas in the listener’s mind – this is one of them. The present perfect non-continuous can also be used when a change is probable: "I have lived here for ten years, but I’ve decided that’s enough. I’m off to Canada next year".

Continuous forms normally convey some idea of the limited duration of the situation. The idea of limited duration inevitably means that the situation has an end, but a change in situation is not the main implication of the verb form itself. Consider these examples:

1. It has been snowing for three days.
2. (Looking out of the window) Oh, how beautiful. It has been snowing.
3. (Looking out of the window) Oh, how beautiful. It has snowed.
4. The number 11 tram normally terminates here, but it has been terminating at Muzeum since they dug up the road.

In #1, it was probably still snowing at the moment these words were uttered. The verb form suggest the on-going duration of the snowing. It is virtually guaranteed that the snow will stop one day, but that is not of importance at the moment of speaking.

In #2, the snow has almost certainly stopped; in #3 it certainly has stopped. In practical terms there is little difference in meaning between the two. If the snow has stopped, then some learners might expect only the non-continuous form to be acceptable, but the continuous form is common. There may be more idea of the duration of the snow with the continuous form.

In #4, the number 11 tram will presumably go back to terminating ‘here’ when the road works are completed (a change), but that is not the main idea of this sentence.

Some writers appear to suggest that a verb form itself necessarily carries full meaning. In fact, context and co-text are normally as important as the verb-form itself, as we can see below with present continuous examples.

5. I am writing a book.

If we have nothing but those words and know nothing of the context in which they were uttered, we cannot know exactly what the speaker wished to convey. If, however, we know that the words were uttered in answer to one of the following questions, we know far more:

6. You've been at that computer all day. What are you doing?
7. Hello, George. We don't see much of you down here these days. What are you doing now you've retired?
8. What are you doing with yourself when you finally retire next month?

Although different situations are now referred to in #5, they all share the idea of limited duration, and time-reference is clear from the context.

Implications of Present Perfect (Continuous)

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