Hi everyone and welcome to English with Aga. My name is Agnieszka Murdoch and I'm a CELTA-certified
English teacher. I am particularly interested in English grammar and that's something I want
to help you with in this video. So, this video is about the difference between the present perfect
and the present perfect continuous and it's something that English learners particularly
struggle with because those two tenses are quite similar to each other but they are also
very different. Are you ready? Let's get started. So, look at these two sentences: I have lived here
for two years and I have been living here for two years. The first sentence is in the present perfect
and the second sentence is in the present perfect continuous. The verb live is a little bit different
to other English verbs. So in this example those two sentences are actually the same, they are both
about the period of the last two years so I have lived here and I have been living here mean that
I started living here two years ago and I still live here now. The only small difference is that
the present perfect continuous emphasises the continuous nature of living here. So, I have been
continuously living here for the last two years but essentially the meaning is pretty much the
same. Now, compare this to this example: I have read this book. I have been reading this book.
Again, the first sentence is in the present perfect and the second sentence is in the present perfect
continuous but in this example the meaning is completely different. I have read this book means
it's a completed action I am just saying that it's finished it's done at some point in my life I
have read this book. I am not saying when, I'm just saying that the action is completed, it's finished.
I have been reading this book means that I started reading this book in the past and I
am still reading it now, so it's not completed, it's not finished, I am still reading this book .
Let's look at another example: I have cooked pizza every Sunday for the last year.
I have been cooking pizza for the last 15 minutes. So, the difference here is that the
present perfect is about repetitive actions over a period of time but the present perfect
continuous is about a continuous action which started in the past and is still happening.
So, in the first example I have cooked pizza every Sunday for the last year I'm talking
about the period of time between one year ago and now so it's about the past and the present
and the repetitive action is cooking the pizza so every week every Sunday I have cooked pizza
but the present perfect continuous I have been cooking pizza is about a continuous action not
a repetitive action something that is continuously happening it started 15 minutes ago and it's still
happening right now. So, as you can see both tenses can be used to talk about something that started
in the past and is still true now. But let's look at another use of those tenses. It's to
talk about consequences of actions: I have painted my living room I have been painting my living room.
When you look at my living room it looks like there is new paint on the walls -
that's the consequence of my action the consequence of painting. The difference is that
I have painted my living room is a finished action - you can see the consequence when you look at the
walls there's new color on them it's finished. I have been painting is not necessarily a finished
action you can see the consequences it's messy there is paint everywhere my clothes are dirty
so it looks like this because I have been painting it maybe for the last couple of
hours continuously all the time. The next important thing about the present perfect
and the present perfect continuous is that some verbs are not used in the present perfect
continuous but they can be used in the present perfect. I have known my friend for five years -
the verb 'know' can't be continuous. You can't say: 'I have been knowing my friend'. You can only use it in
the present perfect so it's always going to be: I have known my friend for five years. So, to summarise, the
present perfect is for saying that something is done, it's finished, I have read this book,
it's also for talking about repetitive actions that started in the past and still happen now - I
have cooked pizza every Sunday for the last year, it's also to talk about something that started
in the past and is still true now - I have known my friend for five years and I still know her now. The
present perfect continuous is for talking about a continuous action that started in the past and
is still happening now - I have been reading this book for a week and I am still reading it now
Both tenses can be used for talking about consequences - I have painted my living room, I
have been painting my living room. The first one is finished, the second one not necessarily. I hope you
enjoyed this video, don't forget to subscribe to my channel and I'll see you in the next video. Bye!