Present Continuous and Present Perfect Continuous
文章發表：2014/10/21
There are two ways of looking at present time in English. One is to focus on the activity itself: I am writing my report (the writing is not completed). The other way is to focus on the present completed result of an action: I have written my report (the writing is completed, we can see the result – the finished report – now).
If you want to focus on the activity itself, you should use the present continuous (be + Ving) or the present perfect continuous (have been + Ving). There’s so little difference in meaning between these two tenses, that you don’t need to worry too much about that.
If you want to focus on the present result of the completed action, you should use the present perfect (have + p.p.).
It’s important to be clear here that what is completed or uncompleted is the action. The time is always unfinished: that’s what present time means: time which is unfinished.
Let’s look at each of these two ways of talking about present time in more detail, and let’s start with how to write about the activity itself. There are three kinds of situations where you might want to focus on an activity: writing about projects you are currently working on; writing about current business or industry trends; writing about a situation which, in your mind, is seen as temporary.
Task 1: Sort these sentences into the table below.
At present I’m living with my sister until my new apartment is finished.
At present I’m working on the marketing strategy for next year.
Lately the US market has been declining.
At the moment I’m designing a new CRM software program for my company.
I haven’t been feeling well recently.
I’m still organizing an event for our new product launch.
I’m still studying for my MBA.
I’ve recently been dealing with some of the outstanding payments.
Nowadays I’m working for a bigger company.
Our brand profile is increasing nowadays.
These days the market in China is growing.
We are presently expanding our market share into Europe.
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Talking about current projects
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Talking about current market trends
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Talking about present situations which are temporary
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*2014/10/24更新
Task 1 Feedback: Using Present Continuous and Present Perfect Continuous
Compare your answers with the table below.
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Talking about current projects
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At present I’m working on the marketing strategy for next year.
At the moment I’m designing a new CRM software program for my company.
I’m still organizing an event for our new product launch.
I’ve recently been dealing with some of the outstanding payments.
|
|
Talking about current market trends
|
|
These days the market in China is growing.
We are presently expanding our market share into Europe.
Lately the US market has been declining.
Our brand profile is increasing nowadays.
|
|
Talking about present situations which are temporary
|
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Nowadays I’m working for a bigger company.
I’m still studying for my MBA.
At present I’m living with my sister until my new apartment is finished.
I haven’t been feeling well recently.
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