Present perfect continuous tense

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kelvin123

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Can we use passive voice in Present perfect continuous tense?

"I have been painting the ceiling."
How can I change it to passive voice?

thanks
 

euncu

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The ceiling has been being painted by me.
 

bhaisahab

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Can we use passive voice in Present perfect continuous tense?

"I have been painting the ceiling."
How can I change it to passive voice?

thanks

It is not possible to change it to passive voice.
 

nado92

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we cant change it.
 

Barb_D

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bhaisahab

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mmasny

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Do you think that we can change it into passive voice using present perfect continuous?
Is euncu's transormation wrong? It seems OK to me...
 

orangutan

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I would say it is perfectly correct, but that use of this form is rather rare (for whatever reasons - possiby euphony is one).

A quick google search, for example, unearthed this from a legal forum:

HI- my friends and I have been being harrassed on the internet by a young woman who used to hang out with us.
 

IHIVG

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The net is really chock-a-block with "I have been being..." form.
Some posters in the forums however (particularly Americans) say that if they were to hear someone talking like that, they would think the person is not a native speaker. It sounds awkward.
Almost all grammar sites note that Present Perfect Continuous Passive is NOT common.
Interesting! You guys really have to stop pulling our legs and tell us the truth already! :lol:
 

Raymott

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The net is really chock-a-block with "I have been being..." form.
Some posters in the forums however (particularly Americans) say that if they were to hear someone talking like that, they would think the person is not a native speaker. It sounds awkward.
Almost all grammar sites note that Present Perfect Continuous Passive is NOT common.
Interesting! You guys really have to stop pulling our legs and tell us the truth already! :lol:
You'll have to decide on whose truth you trust.
For my part, I see nothing wrong with, "My friends and I have been being harrassed on the internet" apart from the spelling of 'harassed' and lack of capitalisation of Internet (which is probably a valid variant by now, but still causes the spell checker to throw a wobbly.)
 

IHIVG

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You'll have to decide on whose truth you trust.
For my part, I see nothing wrong with, "My friends and I have been being harrassed on the internet" apart from the spelling of 'harassed' and lack of capitalisation of Internet (which is probably a valid variant by now, but still causes the spell checker to throw a wobbly.)

How about, "The ceiling has been being painted by me."? A bit awkward, isn't it?
 

Raymott

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How about, "The ceiling has been being painted by me."? A bit awkward, isn't it?
Of course it is. But it's grammatical, and I think that was the question.
On the other hand, the harassment sentence is neither awkward nor ungrammatical.

I'm sure all languages have an infinite number of grammatical sentences that no one would say because they sound awkward.
 

IHIVG

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I'm sure all languages have an infinite number of grammatical sentences that no one would say because they sound awkward.

No, my language doesn't have that. If the sentence is grammatical, it should always sound OK; probably because we don't possess such a variety of verb tenses. We have a great deal of other grammar complexities to worry about though, but I think I've never heard something that could strike me as awkward and be grammatical at the same time.
That is one of the many differences between Russian and English.
 
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Raymott

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No, my language doesn't have that. If the sentence is grammatical, it should always sound OK; probably because we don't possess such a variety of verb tenses. We have a great deal of other grammar complexities to worry about though, but I think I've never heard something that could strike me as awkward and be grammatical at the same time.
That is one of the many differences between Russian and English.
Interesting. Then I'll change it to "almost all languages".
 

mara_ce

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"The ceiling has been being painted by me."
This sentence reminds me of the structure "have something done" by somebody, not by me.

I´m going to paint the ceiling.
I´m going to have the ceiling painted. (by somebody)
I have been painting the ceiling.
The ceiling has been being painted by me. (impossible, in my opinion)

However, the second sentence seems more natural and makes more sense to me.

I have been being harrassed on the internet by a young woman... (at least by somebody else)
 

2006

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"The ceiling has been being painted by me." :cry:
The ceiling is being painted by me. :up:

I have been being harrassed on the internet by a young woman. :cry:
I am being harassed on the internet by a young woman. :up:
 

mmasny

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No, my language doesn't have that. If the sentence is grammatical, it should always sound OK; probably because we don't possess such a variety of verb tenses. We have a great deal of other grammar complexities to worry about though, but I think I've never heard something that could strike me as awkward and be grammatical at the same time.
That is one of the many differences between Russian and English.
Hi, IHIVG.
It's indeed very interesting what you're saying. I don't speak Russian at all, however having enough time I can try to understand a small paragraph in Russian. I would be much more likely to succeed in reading Ukrainian or Belarussian, but sut still, Russian is similar to my mother tongue.
And we certainly have such things in Polish. One example that I can think of now is a gerund problem. I mean the noun-like form of a verb, which is not called 'gerund' in Polish. As far as I can remember, you have this form too in Russian.
In Polish, it often sounds awkward to put this form in a place of a noun. It's grammatical, but awkward. Don't you have this?
 

IHIVG

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Hi, IHIVG.
It's indeed very interesting what you're saying. I don't speak Russian at all, however having enough time I can try to understand a small paragraph in Russian. I would be much more likely to succeed in reading Ukrainian or Belarussian, but sut still, Russian is similar to my mother tongue.
And we certainly have such things in Polish. One example that I can think of now is a gerund problem. I mean the noun-like form of a verb, which is not called 'gerund' in Polish. As far as I can remember, you have this form too in Russian.
In Polish, it often sounds awkward to put this form in a place of a noun. It's grammatical, but awkward. Don't you have this?

Nie, to nie tak. I know what form you are talking about though. And it's not called 'gerund' in Russian either, but practically it's the same thing. I'm not sure what you mean by 'putting this form in a place of a noun'. What noun?
Anyway, I can't think of a word of this kind that would sound awkward. The only exception, though, could be the made-up words; the younger generation has this tendency of coining the new words sometimes (due to some reasons, one of them could be immaturity I suspect), which will still be understood by everyone albeit may sound awkward. But then again, the made-up words are not grammatical and none of the (even modern) dictionaries would accept them.
And yes, all Slavic languages have many things in common. I can certainly understand a lot of words when someone speaks Polish too. The closer the countries geographically, the more similarities their languages have. So I can understand why Ukranian and Belarussian would be easier to master for you!
 

bhaisahab

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You'll have to decide on whose truth you trust.
For my part, I see nothing wrong with, "My friends and I have been being harrassed on the internet" apart from the spelling of 'harassed' and lack of capitalisation of Internet (which is probably a valid variant by now, but still causes the spell checker to throw a wobbly.)
"My friends and I have been being harassed on the internet" Would you actually say that Ray, I wouldn't, I would say: "My friends and I are/were being harassed..." It is grammatical, but does anyone say it?
 
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