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Latest post Sun, Mar 9 2008 12:11 PM by Anonymous. 2 replies.
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Teo  +  486634 Sun, 09 Mar 08 12:00 PM

1. You have told him about the car accident.

2. You have been telling him about the car accident.

What's the difference in meaning between the above two sentences?

Teo
Joined on Tue, Sep 28 2004
Taiwan
Contributing Member 1,631
Thank you very much for your reply.
Anonymous, 1 yr 257 days ago
Well, if you have told him, then you have completed that action and presumably he now knows about it.

But if you have been telling him, then that might imply that you have not finished telling him; you are still in the middle of telling him, and there is still more of the story to be told.

 

Yankee  +  486648 Sun, 09 Mar 08 12:36 PM
Sentence 1 refers to a finished action and may have happened further in the past than sentence 2.

Sentence 2 may or may not be completed, and suggests that the 'telling' has continued right up to now.

 

Joined on Sat, Apr 15 2006
Connecticut, USA
Veteran Member 6,494
Amy "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain
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