Grammar rules for the present perfect tense
Both the present perfect simple and present perfect continuous are present tenses in the English language. That means that they describe actions which take place in open time periods, which means periods of time which are still going on and have not been concluded. Typical open time periods are:
- today
- this week
- this month
- this quarter
- this year
- lately / recently
- for 3 years
- since I began working here
- just
- already / yet
- ever / never
- etc.
Both tenses describe an action which has not been completed and/or could continue.
The present perfect simple, though, lets us know how far along the action is; there is some type of temporary result. E.g.
This week I have worked 30 hours.
The week is not finished yet, so it is possible for me to work more hours.
The temporary result is 30 hours.
This year she has attended 12 lectures.
The year is not finished yet, so maybe she will attend more lectures.
The temporary result is 12 lectures.
Since moving to Paris, I have visited 5 museums.
I still live in Paris, so I can visit more museums.
The temporary result is 5 museums.
We have already watched two films this evening.
The evening is not over yet, so we could watch another one.
The temporary result is 2 films.
Whereas the present perfect simple gives us a temporary result of the process/series, the present perfect continuous is kept general. It only says that the action has begun, but not been concluded. It is unclear how far along the action is. E.g.
This week I have been working a lot.
The week is not finished yet, so it is possible for me to work more hours.
It is unclear, though, how many hours have been worked.
This year she has been attending lectures.
The year is not finished yet, so maybe she will attend more lectures.
It is unclear, though, how many lectures she has attended.
Since moving to Paris, I have been visiting museums.
I still live in Paris, so I can visit more museums.
It is unclear, though, how many museums I have visited.
We have been watching films this evening.
The evening is not over yet, so we could watch another one.
It is unclear, though, how many films we have watched.
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