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Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
Present perfect continuous with how long
Hello guys.
As I was studying present perfect continuous, I found that it could mean either the activity just stopped and is still going. I didn't really get it until I read some sentences, but I guess I almost got to the point.
But because I'm not really sure I got the idea correctly, I really need your help.
I found a sentence in my book:
A:Where have you been? I've been looking for you for the last half hour.
I guess it should mean, I looked for you for some time, but I just stopped looking for you because you are right here. It probably doesn't mean I'm still looking for you.
But what if the speaker was on the phone? I think that sentence would mean "I'm still looking for you, and it's been half an hour."
So from those, I got a conclusion that, "though a sentence with present perfect continuous can mean either the activity is going on and just stopped, it doesn't mean a sentence with that can be interpreted both ways, but it depends on contexts. and it can means only one not two."
I mean, there is no ambiguity in present perfect continuous.
If my assumption is correct, I think "It's been raining for 2 hours" can be either "raining just stopped" and "It's still raining" but it can mean only one of them depending on the context.
B: (on the phone) Hey How is it going? do you wanna hang out?
C: OK! I just got out. Oh the road is so wet! It's rained! (the sun is now starting to shine though)
B: Yeah right? It's been raining for two hours. Didn't you even get out today?
D: Oh... I cannot even get out. It's still raining! It's been raining for two hours!
Probably in the conversation between B and C, rain just stopped but As you see, in D's situation it's probably still raining.
(F just came out to the living room)
E: what did you do in your room?
F: I've been doing this stupid homework for two hours.
Maybe, in this situation F just finished doing his homework.
(E came to F's room)
E: Hey! what are you doing? you've been in your room so long!
F: I've been doing this stupid homework for two hours.
In this situation F is still doing his homework talking to E, and he is probably going to do his homework once F goes out, or whatever.
OK so the questions are two
1. Is my assumption correct?
"though a sentence with present perfect continuous can mean either the activity is going on and just stopped, it doesn't mean a sentence with that can be interpreted both ways, but it depends on contexts. and it can means only one not two."
2. If so, are my example fine?
OK thank you guys. If you answer those questions, I'd really appreciate it. Have a wonderful day and happy new year!
As I was studying present perfect continuous, I found that it could mean either the activity just stopped and is still going. I didn't really get it until I read some sentences, but I guess I almost got to the point.
But because I'm not really sure I got the idea correctly, I really need your help.
I found a sentence in my book:
A:Where have you been? I've been looking for you for the last half hour.
I guess it should mean, I looked for you for some time, but I just stopped looking for you because you are right here. It probably doesn't mean I'm still looking for you.
But what if the speaker was on the phone? I think that sentence would mean "I'm still looking for you, and it's been half an hour."
So from those, I got a conclusion that, "though a sentence with present perfect continuous can mean either the activity is going on and just stopped, it doesn't mean a sentence with that can be interpreted both ways, but it depends on contexts. and it can means only one not two."
I mean, there is no ambiguity in present perfect continuous.
If my assumption is correct, I think "It's been raining for 2 hours" can be either "raining just stopped" and "It's still raining" but it can mean only one of them depending on the context.
B: (on the phone) Hey How is it going? do you wanna hang out?
C: OK! I just got out. Oh the road is so wet! It's rained! (the sun is now starting to shine though)
B: Yeah right? It's been raining for two hours. Didn't you even get out today?
D: Oh... I cannot even get out. It's still raining! It's been raining for two hours!
Probably in the conversation between B and C, rain just stopped but As you see, in D's situation it's probably still raining.
(F just came out to the living room)
E: what did you do in your room?
F: I've been doing this stupid homework for two hours.
Maybe, in this situation F just finished doing his homework.
(E came to F's room)
E: Hey! what are you doing? you've been in your room so long!
F: I've been doing this stupid homework for two hours.
In this situation F is still doing his homework talking to E, and he is probably going to do his homework once F goes out, or whatever.
OK so the questions are two
1. Is my assumption correct?
"though a sentence with present perfect continuous can mean either the activity is going on and just stopped, it doesn't mean a sentence with that can be interpreted both ways, but it depends on contexts. and it can means only one not two."
2. If so, are my example fine?
OK thank you guys. If you answer those questions, I'd really appreciate it. Have a wonderful day and happy new year!
Top answer
" If you say this to someone at 10 AM - in person, or on the phone - this means that from 9:30 AM to the present time, you were looking for him. Obviously, you no longer need to search for him, but this idea of the action stopping, although implied, is not emphasized in English - I've never thought about it in this way in my life. " If said to someone - in person, or on the phone - at 10 AM, this means it started raining at 8 AM and it continues to rain at the present time.
- " If you say this to someone at 10 AM - in person, or on the phone - this means that from 9:30 AM to the present time, you were looking for him.
- Obviously, you no longer need to search for him, but this idea of the action stopping, although implied, is not emphasized in English - I've never thought about it in this way in my life.
- " If said to someone - in person, or on the phone - at 10 AM, this means it started raining at 8 AM and it continues to rain at the present time.
- It never means that the rain has stopped as of the present time.
- " If said to someone - in person, or on the phone - at 10 PM, and you are sitting at your desk with the homework in front of you, this means you started doing the homework at 8 PM and you continue to work on it.
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1 Answers
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(The following is US usage, which can differ from British usage.)
"I've been looking for you for the last half hr." If you say this to someone at 10 AM - in person, or on the phone - this means that from 9:30 AM to the present time, you were looking for him. Obviously, you no longer need to search for him, but this idea of the action stopping, although implied, is not emphasized in Engl
"I've been looking for you for the last half hr." If you say this to someone at 10 AM - in person, or on the phone - this means that from 9:30 AM to the present time, you were looking for him. Obviously, you no longer need to search for him, but this idea of the action stopping, although implied, is not emphasized in Engl
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