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Anonymous Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Present perfect simple/continuous

Hi, Can anyone explain why we say "I have given up smoking" (present perfect simple), but "I have been trying for years" (present perfect continuous)? Surely if we have given up already, the trying action isn´t going on anymore...

Thanks!
Heather
  

Top answer

"? >|NOW.......... >|NOW where G = previous attempt S = started smoking again

— Terryxpress

  • "?
  • >|NOW..........
  • >|NOW where G = previous attempt S = started smoking again
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3 Answers
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"...trying to for years."

So - you might first ask, why did the person not say, "I gave up smoking" instead of "...have given..."?

Then, look at this pictorially:

............G......................S.....................G.....S.....G.....S....G|<...have given up....>|NOW..........

....|<........................have...........been........tr
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AnonymousSurely if we have given up already, the trying action isn´t going on anymore.
If you want to focus on the time before giving up smoking, you can say "I had been trying for years".
But if you think of these as two not-necessarily-related sentences, you can use "have" in both.

Maybe you are thinking of this:

I had
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Hello CJ,( ) You give me a very elightening interpretation.( ) Thank you for your help.
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