Present perfect / continuous

Present perfect / continuous
Message from mjnj1367 posted on 22-07-2014 at 11:50:24 (D | E | F)
Hello.

I was wondering if you could tell me the difference between these 2 sentences below.
1) she must sleep.she has been watching tv for 2 hours.
2) she must sleep.she has watched tv for 2 hours.
Thank you for any reply and best regards.

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Edited by lucile83 on 22-07-2014 13:38

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Re: Present perfect / continuous from melmoth, posted on 22-07-2014 at 12:45:14 (D | E)
Hello,
The second sentence doesn't sound very natural to me. I can't think of a situation where I would say such a thing.
Have a nice day.

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Re: Present perfect / continuous from carlabice47, posted on 22-07-2014 at 13:02:13 (D | E)
Hello,
In my opinion the former means that she's still watching tv and must go to bed now.
The other means that she has just finished watching tv ( may be she's doing other things),must go to bed now . To me to the former sounds more natural, the latter more stifled. Though I think it can be used in particular situations like the one I wrote above.
Bye bye

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Edited by lucile83 on 22-07-2014 13:42

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Re: Present perfect / continuous from willy, posted on 24-07-2014 at 15:55:40 (D | E)
Hello!

Only the first sentence is correct as you are talking about how long something has been happening.
Second explanation : this is an action which has just stopped, but which has a present result (tiredness, sleep).

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Re: Present perfect / continuous from phenix, posted on 29-07-2014 at 15:14:25 (D | E)
Hello,
In my opiniopn, the first sentence is more suitable as the Present Perfect continuous is rather used to insist on the length of time the action has just lasted; whereas the Present Perfect simple only shows an action that is linked to the present without really stressing on its duration.
Regards.

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Edited by lucile83 on 29-07-2014 15:41

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Re: Present perfect / continuous from maralife, posted on 30-07-2014 at 05:56:40 (D | E)
Hello,
I am not good at english but I think I am allowed to make a comment here. First, tv is written TV.
Second, when someone says 'I have washed my car', it means if you go and look at the car it is shining brightly now (present result).
Third, the former(I just learned this word from this forum,thanks) is used I think to put emphasis on how long someone has been doing the same thing, right?
Sorry for my poor English.

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