Ronaldo has been playing his 250th match for Real Madrid

Question

Hello all.Is it possible to use p.p. continuous in the sentence from the thread title or there should be "Ronaldo has played/played" only ?Here is the sentence again:Ronaldo has been playing his 250th match for Real Madrid.Thank you very much.Andrew :-)

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Anonymous p.p.

Note that this is not a great abbreviation. It could stand for "past participle", "present perfect", or "past perfect".

AnonymousRonaldo has been playing his 250th match for Real Madrid.

This only makes sense if you say it during the 250th match, probably toward the end of the match.
If the match is not in progress at the time you talk about it, i.e., it's finished, you need "R. has played his 250th match ...".

The following diagram tells you when to say each sentence.

.............[ - - - - - - - - - the match - - - - - - - - ] ............................
...........................{ ................Say 1 .............}{ .......Say 2 ............ - >

1. Ronaldo has been playing his 250th match for Real Madrid.
2. Ronaldo has played his 250th match for Real Madrid.

CJ

Tanner92 · Answer

Hello CalifJim

It´s, me Tanner92/Dominik6 - I had a problem to log in with the "Dominik6" account so I started a new account approximately three months ago. Just for your information why I am posting a link where isn´t my "Tanner92" nickname.

Here:

https://www.EnglishForward.com/English/ForFirstDifferentFirst/bjhqgx/post.html

I was told that "first time" doesn´t work with present perfect continuous tense! The "Ronaldo" example should be the same with the difference that it is not about the first time but about the 250th time, isn´t it?

Let me quote yourself:

The meaning of 'I have been driving a car' indicates repeated trips in the car with me driving. These trips have been going on for some time. When the implication is that the event of driving is plural, it can't be referred to as the "first time". It's like saying I read that book five times for the first time.

Please, where is the difference? I think there will be at least one but I can´t see him Therefore I use phrases like "The first time...", "This is the first time..." and "for the first time..." without present perfect continuous tense.

Will be gratefeul if you could help me with it, thank you very much.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Tanner92"Dominik6" account so I started a new account approximately three months ago.

You should have left a posting in the "Help" forum. The admins will help you restore your old account, or keep the one account that you want.

CalifJim · Answer

Tanner92The "Ronaldo" example should be the same with the difference that it is not about the first time but about the 250th time, ~~isn´t it?~~ shouldn't it?

No. Those aren't comparable. This is not a matter of the adverbial "for the first time". Ronaldo is not doing the same match again for the 250th time! This is just match number 250. We want to identify which match it is. We don't want to say how many times he has played this match before. (He can only play this match once!)

Suppose you have two cars. You call the big car your first car, or car number 1. You call the small car your second car, or car number 2.

I have been driving my second car for the first time. Wrong.
I have been driving car number 2 for the first time. Wrong.

Ronaldo has been playing match number 250 for the first time. Wrong.
Ronaldo has been playing his 250th match for the first time. Wrong.

I have been driving my second car. OK.
Ronaldo has been playing his 250th match. OK.

I have been driving my car for the second time. Wrong.
Ronaldo has been playing this match for the second time. Wrong.

And so on.

CJ

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Tanner92I was told that "first time" doesn´t work with present perfect continuous tense!

CJ told you that the present perfect continuous can be used with "first time" but there is a time limit.

Here is an example.

The match (the one where Renaldo is playing) has started, but it is not over yet.
The scores during the game were: 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, 3-2, and Real Madrid is losing. There are 15 minutes left to play.

You can say:
This is the first time that Renaldo has been playing for a losing team.

Later on, the game is finished. The final score was 3-2.
You now say this:
This is the first time that Renaldo has played for a losing team.

Ronaldo has been playing his 250th match for Real Madrid

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