Present Perfect Tense ?

Question

Hi friends, can anybody tell me the difference between "It has rained" and "It has been raining". Can we use them interchangeably.

Philip · Accepted Answer

The basic difference is in usage.
It has rained (I know this because there are puddles everywhere).
It has been raining since 5:00 this morning (and it's still raining).
Some will use the second one in place of the first, but many try to make the distinction.

Atinesh · Answer

Hi philip, suppose we are not concerned with 'since'. In that case I think 'It has rained' will mean there are spots of water in the road so 'It has rained' or 'It has been raining'. Please correct me If I'm wrong.

Fivejedjon · Answer

PhilipThe basic difference is in usage.It has rained (I know this because there are puddles everywhere).It has been raining since 5:00 this morning (and it's still raining).Some will use the second one in place of the first, but many try to make the distinction.

I have to say that this is one of the few areas of tense usage where I find it difficult to make a convincing distinction between the two forms (unless the action is still happening. Then only thee progressive/continuous is appropriate.)

When I look out of the window and see water/snow on the ground, but nothing falling from the sky, I am just as likely to say 'Its been raining/snowing') as 'It's rained/snowed'.

It's similar to 'I'm sorry I'm so dirty; I've been working in the garden', said when the work finished before the words were spoken.

I think it may be a combination of one or all of the following:

1. The speaker has in mind the possibility that the action will restart - i.e., the whole action is not complete. Compare 'I have painted the house' (complete) and 'I have been painting the house' (incomplete).

2. The progressive/continuous form is often used when we draw attention to the duration of the action. 'It has been raining/snowing' may suggest a longer period of time (in the speaker's mind) than 'It has rained/snowed.

3. As the perfect progressive/continuous is very often used for an action/state that continues up to and through the moment of speaking, the progressive/continuous form may suggest a more recent cessation of the action than the non-perfect form.

Atinesh · Answer

So fivejedjon,bottom line is that we can use them interchangeably.

Fivejedjon · Answer

Atinesh So fivejedjon,bottom line is that we can use them interchangeably.

In this situation, yes.

In other situations, they are not always interchangeable. Only the progressive, for example, is natural in 'I'm sorry I'm so dirty; I've been working in the garden'.

Atinesh · Answer

Thanx fivejedjon, I got it i think. Actually I was reading English Grammer in Use-Raymond Murphy. I got confused with one example. It is cleared now.

Anonymous · Answer

"It has been raining" implies that the rain is still falling at the time the sentence is spoken, as in "It has been raining for three days. When will it ever stop?"
"It has rained" implies that the rain being spoken of is in the past: "Only three days? That's nothing. It has rained for a week straight here before."

Anonymous · Answer

"It has been raining" (present perfect continuous)  can include the possibility that the rain is still falling at the time the sentence is spoken, if qualified, as with "for three days".  But not necessarily.  Remember the story of Goldilocks and the 3 bears? "Someone has been eating my porridge!"  In this case, the PPC emphasizes the continuity of the past action,  and as we know, it indeed happens not in the present, but only in the past, as the bear is looking at the result in the porridge bowl..  And the following statement, in the present perfect, emphasizes specifically  the present result of the past action: "And they have eaten it all up!!!"

Anonymous · Answer

well , it has rained means the action was in the past and past means ended so the next one sentence it has been raining means we are still
having rain and the action is in progress(m farhan)

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you for the story of Goldilocks. It is a beautiful example.
(Richard Mullins).

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