''She has been teaching/has taught English since she was 25''.

[Tarheel]

If the person I was waiting for has just shown up I wouldn't say, "I have been waiting for you". I might say (if it seems appropriate), "I was waiting for you."

Bedtime!

 

[Rachel Adams]

Goodnight!

I would be grateful if one of the teachers asnwered my question in post #22.

 

[emsr2d2]

No, I am not. The book says it space here (the present progressive) is used to talk about actions that have recently stopped. If I can say (no colon here) "My hands are dirty because I have been gardening'', the present perfect continuous shows that the action has just stopped. Why [STRIKE]cannot[/STRIKE] can't I say (no colon here) (space here) "I have been waiting for you" to mean that I have just stopped waiting. The action has just stopped.

Your two examples are not the same. The first uses the gardening as a cause for the dirty hands. The second is simply an unnatural statement of fact. Also, the verbs used aren't the same.

To make similar constructions, you'd need to give an example like "I'm really angry because I have been waiting for you". Without the first part, your original would only be natural if it was followed by a timescale. For example, "I have been waiting for you for three hours".

 

[Rachel Adams]

So both examples mean I have just stopped waiting "I'm really angry because I have been waiting for you" and "I have been waiting for you for three hours"?

 

[emsr2d2]

Yes, they would both be used within a fairly short timeframe after the waiting finished.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Thank you so much! Every book says and this is taken from Swan's Practical English Usage. ''We also use the present perfect progressive for actions and situations which have just stopped, but which have present results. ' You look hot.' Yes, I have been running.'
'Sorry I am late. Have you been waiting long?'
'I must just go and wash. I have been gardening.'
The 'result' is obvious in the first and third sentences but in the second sentence it is not given, or do I misunderstand the rule?

 

[Tarheel]

Why can't I say:''I have been waiting for you' to mean that I have just stopped waiting? The action has just stopped.

It seems that I disagree with your book. If somebody says to me, "I have been waiting for you" I might respond by saying, "How long?" I would not think the waiting had stopped.

 

[jutfrank]

So both examples mean I have just stopped waiting "I'm really angry because I have been waiting for you" and "I have been waiting for you for three hours"?

No, they don't necessarily mean that. You may or may not continue waiting.

The grammar tells us only about the past. It does not say anything about the future.

 

[Tarheel]

Rachel, you seem to want to talk about grammar. I'm not sure why. As for me, I forget more grammar terminology every day that goes by.