eslHQ

eslHQ (http://www.eslhq.com/forums/)
-   English Questions (http://www.eslhq.com/forums/esl-forums/english-questions/)
-   -   Present perfect or present perfect continuous? (http://www.eslhq.com/forums/esl-forums/english-questions/present-perfect-present-perfect-continuous-69867/)

Alex80 May 28th, 2015 11:35 am

Present perfect or present perfect continuous?
 
Hi,everyone.Can you help me find any indicator or time word that make us chose one tense over the other?(Taken from a textbook)
1.Look! Somebody(drop)their wallet on the pavement.
2.John looks tired.I don't think he(sleep)very well recently.
According to the text,the answers are:
1.has dropped 2.has been sleeping
Can I say in 1,it's pps because of the verb"Look!" or the verb"drop" tends to be shorter here ? and in 2, ppc because of "recently",but it comes with both.It's really confusing.

susan53 May 29th, 2015 01:07 am

Re: Present perfect or present perfect continuous?
 
1. Could be dropped or has dropped. It depends on speaker perception. Has dropped is probably more likely because it expresses a past event with a present result (the wallet is there now), but if the speaker wants to see it just as a completed past event, s/he'll choose dropped.

2. has been sleeping is most likely. It combines the perfect (past event with present result ...so he's always really tired during the day) and the progressive (= an on-going action - every night for the past few weeks). But again - it depends on speaker perception. If they just want to focus on the past event/present result they might say hasn't slept, or if they just want to focus on the on-going action might say isn't sleeping very well. That would be more likely without recently, but is a possibility.

As always, grammar is meaning. The different forms express different meanings and the speaker will choose the form which expresses the meaning s/he wants to convey - which will always depend on how s/he perceives the event.

Nightedge May 30th, 2015 08:57 am

Re: Present perfect or present perfect continuous?
 
Good answer.


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:38 pm.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.8
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0 PL2