My grammar book says these pairs of sentences have the same meaning. But I think there is a subtle difference between them. Below are only my own opinions, please help me correct them if they are wrong.
- (1) I have worked here since 2010.
=> This sentence describes a state of working. - (2) I have been working here since 2010.
=> This sentence describes the action of working vividly.
- (3) It has rained since Monday. I don't know when it stops.
=> This sentence describes a state of rain. - (4) It has been raining since Monday.I don't know when it stops.
=> This sentence describes the action of rain vividly.
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My grammar book also says:
Quote from my grammar book:
When we talk about the result of circumstances or an activity, we use the present perfect, rather than the present perfect continuous. When we focus on the process we often use either the present perfect or the present perfect continuous. Compare:
- (5) Prices have decreased by 7% ( not Prices have been decreasing by 7%)
- (6) Prices have been decreasing recently (or prices have decreased recently).
- (7) I've used three tins of paint on the kitchen walls. (not I 've been using three tins of paint on the kitchen walls)
- (8) I've been using a new kind of paint on the kitchen walls. (or I've used...)
I understand why people prefer to use the present perfect in (5) and (7). But I don't know what is the difference between the present perfect and the present perfect continuous on (6) and (8).
(6A)Prices have decreased recently.
(6B)Prices have been decreasing recently.
(8A). I've used a new kind of paint on the kitchen walls.
(8B). I've been using a new kind of paint on the kitchen walls.
LE HANH 2383My grammar book says these pairs of sentences have the same meaning. But I think there is a subtle difference between them. Below are only my own opinions, please help me correct them if they are wrong.
- (1) I have worked here since 2010.
=> This sentence describes a state of working.- (2) I have been working here since 2010.
=> This sentence describes the action of working vividly.
- (3) It has rained since Monday. I don't know when
it stops.it's going to stop.
=> This sentence describes a state of rain.- (4) It has been raining since Monday.I don't know when
it stops.it's going to stop.
=> This sentence describes the action of rain vividly.
Those remarks seem correct to me, but I'll state something else about them here.
The non-continuous forms give the impression of neutral (official, written) reports. For example, in a resume for a job application you might use (1), but in talking to a good friend, you might use (2). The same basic principle applies to (3) and (4). "It has rained since Monday" can go in a weather report in a newspaper. "It has been raining since Monday" is what you say on the phone to a good friend.
LE HANH 2383My grammar book also says:
Quote from my grammar book:
When we talk about the result of circumstances or an activity, we use the present perfect, rather than the present perfect continuous. When we focus on the process we often use either the present perfect or the present perfect continuous. Compare:
- (5) Prices have decreased by 7% ( not Prices have been decreasing by 7%)
- (6) Prices have been decreasing recently (or prices have decreased recently).
- (7) I've used three tins of paint on the kitchen walls. (not I 've been using three tins of paint on the kitchen walls)
- (8) I've been using a new kind of paint on the kitchen walls. (or I've used...)
I understand why people prefer to use the present perfect in (5) and (7). But I don't know what
isthe difference is between the present perfect and the present perfect continuous in (6) and (8).(6A)Prices have decreased recently.
(6B)Prices have been decreasing recently.
(8A). I've used a new kind of paint on the kitchen walls.
(8B). I've been using a new kind of paint on the kitchen walls.
The A versions have a more definite sense of finality. The decrease in prices or the use of the new kind of paint has probably stopped by the time someone says (6A) or (8A).
In contrast, the B versions seem to suggest that, at the time someone says (6B) or (8B), the decrease in prices is still happening (6B) or that I still haven't finished painting the kitchen walls (8B).
CJ
These words "sense", "probably", "seem to suggest". You used these terms, that means it is just what the sentence sounds likes, but in fact, the nature of the sentence using either the present perfect or the present perfect continuous tense doesn't tell us if the action keeps happening after the speaker says the sentence or not. They only tell us that the action reach to the present. Right?
Is it possible that the prices will keep changing after the speaker say this sentence:"(6A)Prices have decreased recently."
If I just finished painting the house, can I use "I've been using a new kind of paint on the kitchen walls. Is it beautiful?
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If I want to make the listener believe that the action will keep continue after I say that sentence, use the present continuous tense.
If I want to make the listener believe that the action won't keep continuing after I say that sentence, use the present perfect tense.
Are my opinions correct?
Correct. I use these vague words to emphasize that there is nothing absolute about these explanations. In matters of language, it's always a matter of approximations and opinions. There are no absolute facts about the meanings of sentences, as in mathematics, where 1 + 1 = 2, always and everywhere.
The action or state either reaches the present, or, if it doesn't, it is relevant to the present situation that the speaker finds himself in.
Yes. Consider that prices can change at any time, and often do. The utterance of a sentence cannot stop time.
(More idiomatically: Do you like it?)
"paint the house" refers to the exterior of the house. You painted the house, but then you talk about the paint in the kitchen.
Supposing you meant that you finished painting the kitchen walls, then the given sentence is still possible, assuming your finishing the painting is fairly recent. If this project of painting the kitchen walls happened five years ago, and you hadn't used that new kind of paint since then, the given sentence would seem a bit weird.
Generally correct. These general principles are true for the sentences we have been looking at in this thread, but remember: This is English. There will be exceptions.
We could spend the next month talking about these sentences, which only involve one verb, and we still might not come to any definite conclusions:
We have painted most of the outside trim.
Master painters have painted landscapes for years.
Residents have painted the walls with brightly colored pictures.
The second-grade students have been painting a winter scene.
Some of her students have been painting together for more than 20 years.
Ever since Neolithic times humans have been painting and otherwise decorating everything in sight.
CJ
If I finished painting my house 1 week ago. Now, I meet my friend, I would say:
(1) I've been using a new kind of paint on the kitchen walls. Let me tell you how easy the new paint is to apply.
(2) I was using a new kind of paint on the kitchen walls. Let me tell you how easy the new paint is to apply.
(3) I have used a new kind of paint on the kitchen walls. Let me tell you how easy the new paint is to apply.
(4) I used a new kind of paint on the kitchen walls. Let me tell you how easy the new paint is to apply.
I actually don't know how to choose the tense to use here.
I don't either.
I'd say 1). My second choice is 4).
For a native speaker faced with all those choices, it's impossible to analyze the hundreds of thoughts that go through your mind in a half a second which lead you to say one sentence or another. From the speaker's point of view, you're just repeating the same formulas you've heard a thousand times in your life.
Some scholars say it takes 30 years to learn a language. That includes native speakers.
I think that's because it takes that long living together with others who speak that language to have heard the grammatical patterns enough times that they become automatic.
CJ
The 3 other sentences sound wrong. Right?
The best thing I should do right now is to looking for English-speaking friends to speak to everyday : )
Yes, but if you said them, you would be understood. It's not like they have mistakes.
Yes, and listen to anything you can find in English. That includes podcasts, videos, lectures, whatever. You won't necessarily understand everything, but if you stay calm and don't even try to understand it, it will get in your brain anyway. I did this when I learned another language, and after three months I started understanding quite a bit of it, and after six months I was able to understand almost 80% of it. It took almost no effort at all. No grammar books. No reading. Just listening. (Although reading helps too.)
CJ
Thank you so much for your advice.