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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Query about present perfect vs present perfect continuous

I I am having trouble explaining why d) is incorrect to my students :

a) He's lived here for 6 years (correct)
b) He's been living here for 6 years (correct )
 
You walk into a bar , the barman nods to your friend and says : 
c) He's been drinking for 6 hours  (correct)
d) He's drunk for 6 hours (sounds wrong)

Why is d) incorrect ? What if any is the hidden rule ?
Unfortunately the difference is too subtle for must grammar books to pick up on and is a nuance I suspect only a native speaker would notice. 
 Any help much appreciated.
  

Top answer

a) He's lived here for 6 years (correct)-- He may or may not still live here. b) He's been living here for 6 years (correct )- He still lives here. You walk into a bar , the barman nods to your friend and says : c) He's been drinking for 6 hours (correct)- He's still drinking d) He's drunk for 6 hours (sounds wrong)- He may or may not still be drinking Why is d) incorrect ?

— Mister Micawber

  • a) He's lived here for 6 years (correct)-- He may or may not still live here.
  • b) He's been living here for 6 years (correct )- He still lives here.
  • You walk into a bar , the barman nods to your friend and says : c) He's been drinking for 6 hours (correct)- He's still drinking d) He's drunk for 6 hours (sounds wrong)- He may or may not still be drinking Why is d) incorrect ?
  • -- It is not incorrect; it is just odd without the alcoholic object.
  • 'He's drunk whisky for 6 hours and now he wants a tequila.
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11 Answers
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a) He's lived here for 6 years (correct)-- He may or may not still live here.
b) He's been living here for 6 years (correct )- He still lives here.
 
You walk into a bar , the barman nods to your friend and says : 
c) He's been drinking for 6 hours  (correct)- He's still drinking
d) He's drunk for 6 hours (sounds wrong)- He may or may
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Anonymousd) He's drunk for 6 hours (sounds wrong)
I'll just add to Mr M's explanation that for the above sentence to be correct, he's must be interpreted as he has, not he is.

CB
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Thanks. Let me rephrase the question then . That's what I mean though - in this situation why does it sound strange without the alcaholic object whilst the others sound fine without the alcaholic object . The focus is on the time not the object in this context. The sentances as they are without any addictions or subtractions sound fine except for d) 
Is there a rule for this situation ap
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Please post by typing your text directly into the message box instead of copying and pasting from some wordprocessing software. Your typeset is simply too small to read.
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Anonymous That's what I mean though - in this situation why does it sound strange without the alcaholic object
I cannot possibly know why something "sounds strange" to you. Also, I have never heard the term "alcaholic object" and I have no idea what it means.

CB
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Please Mister Micawber's original response to the question and all will become clear. Out of curiosity are you a native speaker?
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P.S. Can I have native teachers only responding to this thread - I mean no insult to anyone but I have very specific reasons for requesting this.
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Here's another example :

Your boss walks into the office and dumps a load of papers on your desk. You have already worked 5 hours overtime and want to go home. Your response is :

"Oh comon , I've been working for 15 hrs " (correct)

but not :

"Oh comon, I've worked for 15 hrs "

The sounds "a bit odd" to a native speaker , not completely wrong, but a b
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If you don't mean to insult our excellent non-native speakers, perhaps you could explain your specific reasons for requesting only native speakers. (I am a native spekaer, but some of the non-native contributors to the forum know a lot more about grammar than I do.)
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Yes - I am writing a PHD in linguistics and am researching the differences in perception certain grammatical artifacts between native and non - native speakers and the different processes involved in language aquisition. I really dont have time to explain it here. I will also have questions solely for non - native teachers.
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