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Witty witty 764 Posted 9 years ago
Grammar

The past continuous or the present perfect continuous

Hi. I've been thinking of one example, which isn't explained in any books. I know the rules of the present perfect continuous, however what should we do when we announce a piece of news by using this tense and then we would like to give more details? For example:
- Hi, I can't go to the party today. I'm so tired, because I've been working in the garden.
- That's a shame. What have you been doing there? VS What were you doing there?
- I've been raking. VS I was raking.
  

Top answer

1. " 2. " 3.

— Anonymous

  • 1.
  • " 2.
  • " 3.
  • " In all three sentences, the meaning is essentially the same with either tense.
  • The present perfect continuous is more formal-sounding, the past continuous more informal.
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1 Answers
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1. You can use either "...I've been working..." or "...I was working..."


2. You can use either "...What have you been doing..." or "What were you doing..."


3. You can use either "...I've been raking." or "I was raking."


In all three sentences, the meaning is essentially the same with either tense. The present perfect continuous is more formal-sounding

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