I <got> <have been getting> ready and then <drove> <driving> over here.

[GhotiO |fɪʃ|]

Two people meet at a cafe after work. Which should B say?

A: What have you been doing?
B: Let's see. Since I saw you an hour ago?
A: Yeah.
B:

1. I got ready and then drove over here.
2. I was getting ready and then driving over here.
3. I have got(ten) ready and then driven over here.
4. I have been getting ready and then driving over here

I would go with the past simple option since those are two actions that happened one after another ("and then"), but hasn't English got that weird thing that we should keep the aspect in the answer?
I appreciate your help.

 

[5jj]

Where did you find this exercise?

 

[GhotiO |fɪʃ|]

Where did you find this exercise?

That's not an exercise, at least that I found.

 

[5jj]

Did you write the whole thing yourself?

 

[GhotiO |fɪʃ|]

Did you write the whole thing yourself?

I'm not sure why that would have any effect on the result, but no, I didn't write it myself. It's from The Office.

 

[teechar]

I'm not sure why that would have any effect on the result,

We need to know the source of the content.

It's from The Office.

Give us the link please, or provide a proper citation.

 

[GhotiO |fɪʃ|]

I don't see how that would make any difference at all to the outcome.

the course

 

[teechar]

It's a legal requirement to do with copyright laws.

 

[GhotiO |fɪʃ|]

It's a legal requirement to do with copyright laws.

Those are just four lines. Anybody could produce them.

 

[Tarheel]

Assuming it was a TV show, B spoke one of those lines. It was not multiple choice.

 

[emsr2d2]

Those are just four lines. Anybody could produce them.

I trust you're not going to prove so argumentative every time you're asked to provide the full source information of any text you did not create yourself. We have very strict copyright laws in the UK, where the forum is based, and as a user of the forum you are subject to those laws. Please remember to provide the source information in post #1 in future.

 

[GhotiO |fɪʃ|]

I provided the source. It's here

the course

These are the exact citation:

Michael: What have you been doing?
Jim: Let's see. Since I saw you an hour ago?
Michael: Yeah.
Jim: I have been getting ready and then driving over here.

I would like to ask you for clarification.
I don't quite understand the use of the present perfect continuous as I've never seen it used for actions that happened one after another.
If I were to answer such a question, I would go with the past simple option "I got ready and then drove over here" since those are two actions that happened one after another ("and then"), would that be wrong of me?

 

[GhotiO |fɪʃ|]

I trust you're not going to prove so argumentative every time you're asked to provide the full source information of any text you did not create yourself. We have very strict copyright laws in the UK, where the forum is based, and as a user of the forum you are subject to those laws. Please remember to provide the source information in post #1 in future.

By the way, if you follow this thread from the beginning, you'll see that as soon as I was asked if I had written the whole thing myself, I immediately responded with "No, it's from The Office."

 

[5jj]

By the way, if you follow this thread from the beginning, you'll see that as soon as I was asked if I had written the whole thing myself, I immediately responded with "No, it's from The Office."

A better response would have been "No, it's from The Office, Season 4, Episode 13".

 

[teechar]

If I were to answer such a question, I would go with the past simple option "I got ready and then drove over here"

That would be the standard and obvious response, but see below.

since those are two actions that happened one after another ("and then"),

The present perfect continuous is not impossible in such circumstances.
For example:
I've been washing my clothes and drying them all day.
See below!

I don't quite understand the use of the present perfect continuous

Jim uses the present perfect continuous because:
1- For tense consistency: Michael used that tense in the question.
2- By using the continuous (-ing), Jim is almost saying "that's all I've done. I've mentioned everything I've done in the interim".

as I've never seen it used for actions that happened one after another.

See the example I gave above!