for grammar experts

[mido500]

Hi everyone,
Choose saying why and why not the others
It....... for the past three hours.
1-was raining 2-has been raining 3-has rained 4-has rained

[mido500]

i need an expert's reply

[Casiopea]

EX: It __________ for the past three hours.

1. was raining <past>
2. has been raining <present perfect continuous>
3. has rained <present perfect>
4. had rained <past perfect>

"duration from the past until now"
Use the Present Perfect Continuous to show that something started in the past and has continued up until now. "For five minutes", "for two weeks", and "since Tuesday" are all durations which can be used with the Present Perfect Continuous.

"unspecified time before now"
Use the Present Perfect to say that an action happened at an unspecified time before now. The exact time is not important. You CANNOT use the Present Perfect with time expressions such as "yesterday," "one year ago," "last week," "when I was a chlid," "when I lived in Japan," "at that moment," "that day" or "one day." We CAN use the Present Perfect with expressions like "ever," "never," "once," "many times," "several times," "before," "so far," "already" and "yet."

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