The present perfect form or the present perfect progressive

Question

Hello everyone.Lately I've been studying about the distinction between the present perfect form and the present perfect progressive form. I think I've got the general idea, but still don't know which should be used in some cases. Could you please evaluate each of the following five pairs of sentences depending on whether it is natural or not?(A) Have you seen a movie recently? (B) Have you been seeing a movie recently?(C) Have you seen a lot of movies recently? (D) Have you been seeing a lot of movies recently?(E) Have you often seen a movie recently? (F) Have you often been seeing a movie recently?(G) I haven't seen a movie recently. (H) I haven't been seening a movie recently.(I) I haven't seen a lot of movies recently. (J) I haven't been seeing a lot of movies recently.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

A. This is correct. The meaning is: did you go to see a movie in the last few days?

B. This is ungrammatical.

C. This is correct. The meaning is: did you go to see many movies in, say, the last few weeks?

D. This is correct. The basic meaning is the same as C. However, there is a negative implication here: you're implying that the listener does not have a lot to do and is spending his free time sitting alone in movie theaters, watching any movie that happens to be currently playing.

E. This is ungrammatical. If you've seen a movie recently, you wouldn't have seen it often, that is, more than one time.

F. This is ungrammatical.

G. This is correct. The meaning is: you have not gone to a movie in, say, the last few weeks.

H. This is ungrammatical.

I. This is correct. The meaning is: you have not gone to many movies in, say, the last few weeks.

J. This is correct. The basic meaning is the same as I. But there is a negative implication here: you're implying that you would like to see a lot of movies, but have not had the opportunity to do so, for example, because you do not have anyone to go with and you don't like going to the movies alone.

The present perfect form or the present perfect progressive

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