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PASSIVE VOICE with Present Perfect Continuous

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CalifJim  +  543588 Sat, 19 Jul 08 05:20 PM
New2grammar
“It sounds like Joe has been continuously kicking the ball for the past 5 years.”

Not any more than the active form says so.  Joe has been kicking that ball for the past five years.  Transforming a silly active into a passive is not going to de-sillify it!  Smile

The alternate interpretation is reasonable, however:  Joe has kicked the ball for a period of time many times throughout the past five years.

Compare:  Alexandra has been working on that quilt for ten years.  /  George has been writing his novel for 18 years.

CJ 
CalifJim
Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004
California
Veteran Member 22,379
"There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche
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New2grammar, 1 yr 123 days ago
desillify... That's new to me. Thanks, CJ. Smile
Related discussions
Anonymous, 14 days ago
but in a sentence like "Tom has been solving problems for 15 minutes" can we have a passive of this type: "The problems have been being solved by Tom for 15 minutes" ?

I have read that this structure is grammatically correct. Can we really have such a sentence?

Yankee  +  963701 Fri, 06 Nov 09 08:48 PM
I answered your question in another thread, Anon:

http://www.englishforums.com/English/PassiveVoice/ljchm/post.htm
Yankee
Joined on Sat, Apr 15 2006
Connecticut, USA
Veteran Member 6,491
Amy "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain
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