I have read “For Whom the Bell Tolls.”

[Alice Chu]

Hello, dear teachers.

The differences between present perfect and present perfect continuous:
1) A. I have read “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” We can talk about it now.
→The action is completed.
1) B. I have been reading Tom’s new book. I’ll be finished soon.
→The action is not completed yet.

2) A. He has repaired his car, so he can relax.
→The action is completed, and the result comes from the completed action.
2) B. He has been repairing his car, so he is tired.
→The action has stopped recently, and the result comes from the action itself.

3) A. He has smoked for 20 years. He is a heavy smoker.
→The action is permanent.
3) B. He has been smoking outside for an hour.
→The action is temporary.

Could you please tell me if my understanding is correct? Thank you very much.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Good question.

You're exactly right on all but 3A. He might stop smoking tomorrow, so the action is continual up to the present but not necessarily permanent. He has continued to smoke up to now.

It would be just as accurate to say, "He has been smoking for twenty years" or (a little more accurately) "He has been a smoker for twenty years."

 

[Alice Chu]

Thank you very much for your help.
If I rewrite 3) A. as the following, can it mean a permanent action?

3) A. He has smoked for 20 years. He can’t live happily without smoking.
It’s impossible to ask him to quit smoking.
→The action is permanent.

 

[Rollercoaster1]

1) B. I have been reading Tom’s new book. I’ll be finished soon.
→The action is not completed yet.

I think it's more better to say '....I'll finish it soon'.

 

[Rover_KE]

1) B. I have been reading Tom’s new book. I’ll be finished soon.
→The action is not completed yet.

I think it's [STRIKE]more[/STRIKE] better to say '....I'll finish it soon'.

.

 

[Tarheel]

You could say:

It's hopeless to ask him to quit smoking.

Or:

It's pointless to ask him to quit smoking.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Thank you very much for your help.
If I rewrite 3) A. as the following, can it mean a permanent action?

3) A. He has smoked for 20 years. He can’t live happily without smoking.
It’s impossible to ask him to quit smoking.
→The action is permanent.

If your question is about what tenses would make it a continuing action, I'd say, "he has smoked for twenty years and will smoke for the rest of his life."

Phrased that way, has smoked brings us up to the present and will smoke takes us into the future.