1. Amy has been writing the letter for two hours.
2. Amy has written the letter for two hours.
#1 is supposed to be correct. Is #2 also acceptable?
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1. Amy has been writing the letter for two hours.
2. Amy has written the letter for two hours.
#1 is supposed to be correct. Is #2 also acceptable?
1. Amy is still writing the letter.Quote:
Originally Posted by sitifan
2. Finished action. She no longer write it.
This is how I undestood the rules.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sitifan
2. Amy has written the letter for two hours. Present perfect is wrong here, it should be 'Amy spent two hours writing the letter'.
1. Is correct.
1. Amy has been studying English for two years.
2. Amy has studied English for two years.
What about the acceptability of the above two sentences?
They are both okay and mean, roughly speaking, the same. The little difference I could think of is that the latter might as well mean that Amy has recently finished her studying which lasted two years.Quote:
Originally Posted by sitifan
Quote:
Originally Posted by sitifan
Hey there,
I agree with all the above statements that people have left!!
Another point to consider with these two tenses;
*They can also make a subtle suggeston as to how the speaker feels about it. Whehther he sees it as a temporary action or something more permanent
i.e;
1) "Amy has been studying English for two years" (and perhaps she is thinking about stopping. She's had enough)
2) "Amy has studied English for two years" (and perhaps she has no intention of leaving. She sees this as a permanent state. She loves it!)
At times to understand exactly what is meant more context is needed.
These two tenses can have a myriad of subtle differences in meaning and often only the context can clarify things.
I'm not a teacher.
Hi sitifan,
The Present Perfect denotes a completed action while with the Present Perfect Continuous there is an implication of incompletness.
He has made some experiments.
He has been making some experiments.
Why are your lips black? I have been eating blackberries. I have eaten a whole plateful.
She is walking up and down the room thinking of the letter she has been writhing and wondering how she should finish it. She is going to post the letter she has just written.
We have worked at the problem for several months. (The fact is emphasized.)
We have been working and working at the problem for months and don’t think we are likely to solve it. (The process is emphasized.)
I have worked upon the problem for a long time without reaching any conclusion. (Shaw)
With certain non-terminative verbs both the Present Perfect and Present Perfect Continuous are used.
Regards,
V.
Hello,
I've come recently across : "the lexical aspect of a verb", and find it very useful to think about it when deciding between PP and PPC .
Could someone explain it in terms of the lexical aspect of the verb "study" ?
Cheers,