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The Present Perfect Simple and Continuous
The present perfect simple and continuous are are perfect tenses. That means they are constructed using have:
Present perfect simple
have / has + past participle (verb 3)
I've eaten lunch.
He hasn't been here very long.
Have we ever gone to Germany?
Present perfect continuous
Have/ has + been + (verb)ING
I've been studying for the last hour
You haven't been trying to fix the car. You've been sleeping!
Has it been raining very long?
One meaning the same
Both the present perfect simple and continuous tenses have one use which is the same: To talk about an action which started in the past and continues into the present.
I've studied English for 8 years.
I've been studying English for 8 years.
She's played football since she was a child.
She's been playing football since she was a child.
State verbs
Some verbs cannot be used continuously. These are called state verbs. For example: need, know, want, have (possess). They are usually used in the simple form, even if we would normally use the continuous. In this case, that means using the present perfect simple tense where we might wish to use the present perfect continuous.
I have needed a good cup of tea since this morning
We've known each other for 12 years now
He's wanted to buy that car his whole life.
Quantity or duration?
Both the present perfect simple and continuous can look at the same action, but from different views. The present perfect simple is concerned with change and looks at completed actions - often counting quantity by using how much or how many. The present perfect continuous assumes that an action is in progress, or very recently finished, and looks at how long something has been happening.
How long have you been writing letters to your friend in America?
We've been writing for 15 years.
Wow! How many letters have you written, do you think?
I don't know. Maybe we've written over 100 letters to each other.
To do
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