Mô tả so sánh bằng hình ảnh:
- Bên trái là Tôi đã hoàn thành sơn phòng ngủ rồi
- Bên phải là Tôi đã đang hoàn thành sơn phòng ngủ (chưa sơn xong)
| + Her bedroom was green. Now it is yellow. She has painted her bedroom. + Has painted isthepresentperfectsimple. + Here, the important thing is that something has been finished. Has painted is a completed action. We are interested in the result of the activity (the painted bedroom), not the activity itself. … | + There is paint on Kate’s clothes. + She has been painting her bedroom. + Has been painting isthepresentperfect continuous. + We are thinking of the activity, it does not matter whether it has been finished or not. In this example, the activity (painting the bedroom) has not been finished. |
Minh hoạ thêm về so sánh 2 thì này:
| My hands are very dirty. I have been repairing my bike. | My bike is OK again now. I have repaired it |
| Joe has been eating too much recently. He should eat less. | Somebody has eaten all the chocolates. The box is empty |
| It’s nice to see you again. What have you been doing since we last met? | Where’s the book I gave you? What have you done with it? |
| Where have you been? Have you been playing tennis? | Have you ever played tennis? |
Ví dụ thêm:
| We use the continuous to say how long (for something that is still happening): | We use the simple to say how much, how many or how many times: |
| How long have you been reading that book? | How much of that book have you read? |
| Lisa is writing emails. She has been writing emails all morning. | I Lisa is writing emails. She has sent lots of emails this morning. |
| They have been playing tennis since 2 o’clock. | They have played tennis three times this week. |
| I’m learning Arabic, but I have not been learning it very long. | I’m learning Arabic, but I have not learnt very much yet. |
Some verbs (for instance, know/ like /believe) are not normally used in the continuous:
- I have known about the problem for a long time, (not I’ve been knowing)
- How long have you had that camera? (not have you been having)
But note that you can use ‘want‘ and ‘mean‘ in the present perfect continuous:
- I’ve been meaning to phone Jane, but I keep forgetting.