English Grammar - Present Perfect Simple & Continuous

Wow. They've won two games in a hundred years. I bet they've been waiting for a while.

Hi. I was just reading the paper, and when I was doing it, if you were listening, I was

talking in the present perfect, and I also used the present perfect continuous. Although

they can be the same at times, sometimes they have distinctly different meanings. In today's

lesson, I'm going to try and teach you what those meanings are. Okay? Let's go to the

board. Now, when we talk about the present perfect, what we're basically saying is two

events have occurred. Okay? Generally, something has happened, and it's completed, and then

something else happens. And when we say, when we use the perfect condition, not only do

we say two things have happened, we say they are connected. There's something joining them

together. Now, usually, especially the present perfect, one thing starts in the past, and

it is connected to the present. Why is this important? Well, we're going to look at the

present perfect simple and continuous. They're separate meanings, and what they mean when

they have a singular meaning, the same meaning. So, let's look at present perfect simple.

When we use the present perfect simple, we usually want to talk about how much or how

many, because we're really dealing in the result. What do you mean? Well, something

has happened here, yes, and later on, there is an effect. Something has happened because

of it. So, we want to know what is the result from this here. So, we're usually dealing

with numbers. Okay? So, how many, how much? What do you mean? Well, how many books have

you read? There's a number, 4, 5, 20. How many books have you read? How much money do

you have? How much money do you have? Well, let's see, $20, $30, it's a number. So, in

this case, when we use the present perfect simple form, like I have read four books,

I have watched five movies, I have read 16 pages, we're talking about numbers. I want

a number from you, the result. This number shows me the result. Cool, yeah? Now, let's

compare this to the present perfect continuous. When I talk about the continuous form, really,

I don't care how many, not the number, but what have you been doing? So, you may have

read, I have read 10 pages, but then I will ask you, what were you doing at 2 o'clock?

And you would say, I have been reading. I have been reading. I'm concerned about the

activity, not the number. Okay? So here, we're going to talk about the activity. Now, this

is very interesting, because with the continuous form, I'm concerned about your activity, and

with the simple form, I'm concerned about your result, and we are talking about two

things, okay? So this is simple, the continuous would go from here to here. I can do some

magic. Want to see? Here, magic trick. We're in a different land now, okay? This is where

I explain. When the little blue screen comes up, you'll have the knowledge, promise. Watch.

Now, remember, I told you, two things are connected. If it's continuous form for the

present perfect, it goes from one part to another, and they're joined. If it's simple,

one thing affects another. So what's the magic? Well, if you put them together, we talk about

when. Okay? So look, we have the activity. What are you doing? We have the results. How

many things have you done? But let's just say something. Remember, result has number.

So let's just say something like, I have been married for 20 years. There's a number. But

did you hear what I said? I have been married for 20 years. That answer tells me how long.

You like that? Now, we can't say, I have been marrying for 20 years. We can't say that.

But we could say, I have been waiting for 20 minutes. You might have noticed something.

When I said, I have been married for 20 years, 20 years is a long time. Well, when I said

I have been waiting for 20 minutes, 20 minutes is a short time. This comes to the things

we put on the board. Activities don't last forever. They're usually short-lived. So in

this case, we would use present perfect continuous. So for short activities, we use the present

perfect continuous. I have been waiting 20 minutes. See? Activity, short. So for short

times of activity, we use present perfect continuous. But if we believe something has

been for a long time, right, the result after a long time, a long work, we would actually

use the present perfect simple. I have lived in Canada for 30 years. It's a long time.

There's more permanence. To be honest with you, there's another lesson which I'm going

to be happy to share with you later. Because it has to do with this right here. Okay? So

when we want to talk about a long time and the result, how much, how many, we use that

for long time. And that's the present perfect simple. Short time. So to keep it simple,

when we want to talk about how long, we have two options. We can use the present perfect

simple to tell people we've done something for a long time. I have been, mmm, long time.

If it's a short time, we can use the present perfect continuous. I have been waiting. I

have been doing, mmm, short time. I hope this has been informative for you. Now, let's look

at the board. I want to give you some more information. If you need to know more, and

you will, because there's a reason why we have short and long time and the perfects

mean present perfect continuous and perfect, present perfect simple. There's a reason why

they have to do with time and it has to do with something here. Now, if you want to know

more about this, come to the forum. I'll be happy to explain. Okay? So, forum, you say.

What forum? Now, you've confused me enough already. Well, the forum you can find at www.engvid.com.

We'll answer more of your questions about the present perfect and its uses, what's so

special about the present tense, and any other questions you might have. In fact, not only

I, but there are other teachers you can meet and we'll be happy to help you. So, come visit

the website and have a great day. Take care.