Uses of Present Perfect Simple vs Continuous

Question

Hi! I'm a student from Chile and I've been experiencing some problems at school because of the constant switching of my english teachers, so I haven't been able to properly learn the uses of present perfect simple and continuous. Although I've tried to teach myself through my textbook and english grammar websites, I still have some doubts about whether I should use present perfect simple or continuous when talking about a past action that affects the present. Some websites claim that in those situations i should use the simple form and others continuous, and I've encountered this kind of context in online exercises which sometimes claim it's one or the other. My test is tomorrow and I'd really like to know if there's any way to tell them apart.

Here's some examples of what I'm talking about:

"He ______(clean) the kitchen. Everything is sparkling clean." (website says I should have used present perfect simple)

"The baby's face is really dirty.What ________ (has/he)?" (website says i should have used present perfect continuous)

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

randomunicorn
Here's some examples of what I'm talking about:
"He ______(clean) the kitchen. Everything is sparkling clean." (website says I should have used present perfect simple)
"The baby's face is really dirty.What ________ (has/he)?" (website says I should have used present perfect continuous)

I take it you mean that the recommended answers are

has cleaned the kitchen
has he been having

In the first one, "he" can stop cleaning the kitchen at any moment, even before he has finished cleaning the whole kitchen. At any of these moments, it can be said that "He has been cleaning the kitchen" (even though not everything is sparkling clean yet). That's why they put "Everything is sparkling clean". It's to cue you that the cleaning is finished. It's only after "he" has cleaned the kitchen that everything can be sparkling clean.

The second one is rather strange. Is that really all you get? (has/he) I expected 'has he been doing' or some other verb with more than just 'has' as your choices.

I don't understand why the website insists on the continuous here. Both forms seem possible. Yet, I must admit, as a native speaker, that the continuous does sound better to my ear, perhaps because it's more reasonable to think the baby has been getting dirty gradually rather than suddenly. The baby hasn't done something which got him dirty all at once. He has been doing something which gradually got him dirty.

randomunicornMy test is tomorrow and I'd really like to know if there's any way to tell them apart.

Not really. Even if your test were several months from now, I don't think it would make any difference, except that you'd have a few more months to keep trying various exercises which you might not come to understand any better than you already understand them.

There is no all-purpose way of solving these kinds of grammar problems. Each situation has to be approached in its own way. Maybe my explanations above will give you a small start on a few ways you can analyze the test questions. You have to ask why the extra information is given. That's often more important than the sentence where you need to supply an answer.

CJ

Uses of Present Perfect Simple vs Continuous

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