Pluperfect versus present continuous

[sebayanpendam]

Hi

Could someone please tell me why a present perfect tense is used in this sentence instead of present continuous?

"He said my paintings were bad. He said i should keep working on them. I am very upset about it."
"Well, have you kept working at them?" (Are you working on them?)

 

[BrunaBC]

Hi

Could someone please tell me why a present perfect tense is used in this sentence instead of present continuous?

"He said my paintings were bad. He said i should keep working on them. I am very upset about it."
"Well, have you kept working at them?" (Are you working on them?)

I believe it's in the present perfect to mean that the sentence started in the past and continuous in the present. So you started working at them and keep doing it.
If the present continuous was used, the focus would be in the present.

 

[5jj]

"He said my paintings were bad. He said [STRIKE]i[/STRIKE] I should keep working on them. I am very upset about it."
"Well, have you kept working at them?" - From the time he said that until now.
Are you working on them? - Now

Both are possible