[Grammar] Present continuous vs present perfect continuous

[Walt Whitman]

English teacher

CONTEXT
I’m back home from work. I can smell something delicious coming from the kitchen. My wife is in there busy with pots and pans. I ask her:
(1) “What are you cooking, honey?” / (2) “What have you been cooking, honey!”, and I kiss her passionately.

Is there any difference between (1) and (2) in this context?
Thanks a lot.
WW

 

[5jj]

The normal difference.

(1) is asking about her activity at the moment of speaking.
(2) is asking about the cooking activities of the previous few minutes/hours.

If you are kissing her passionately, you may have to wait for her response.

 

[Walt Whitman]

The normal difference.

(1) is asking about her activity at the moment of speaking.
(2) is asking about the cooking activities of the previous few minutes/hours.

If you are kissing her passionately, you may have to wait for her response.

Hi, 5jj.

Do you mean

(1) my wife is in the kitchen in the middle of her cooking activities?
(2) she may be in the kitchen but her cooking activities are over?

WW

 

[5jj]

(1) my wife is in the kitchen in the middle of her cooking activities? Yes
(2) she may be in the kitchen but her cooking activities are over? Not necessarily. Only context can make that clear. If she is washing up the pots and pans, then her cooking activities may well be over. If they are on the stove, and she is stirring the contents, then it's reasonable to assume that they are not.

5

 

[Walt Whitman]

So, if in (2) her cooking activities are still ongoing, I could ask both questions, the first which comes to my mind. Then it is reasonable to assume that there is no difference between them. Am I correct?
WW

PS: As to the passionate kiss,5jj, the smell would be enough. I would find the temptation to kiss her too hard to resist.

 

[5jj]

So, if in (2) her cooking activities are still ongoing, I could ask [STRIKE]both[/STRIKE] either question[STRIKE]s[/STRIKE], the first which comes to my mind. Yes
Then it is reasonable to assume that there is no difference between them. Am I correct? No. I noted the difference in my first response.

In practical terms there may not be an important difference, but a difference there is. For example, the response to 'What are you cooking?" could be "I'ts just some turkey broth for supper". The response to "What have you been cooking?" could be "I've been cooking the turkey and ham for lunch tomorrow. I'm just boiling up the bones for some broth for supper tonight."

 

[Walt Whitman]

It's very clear now, 5jj.
Great teacher, your grasp of the language is impressive.
WW

PS: Yes, you're right - I stand corrected. Do you think I deserve a dunce's hat?