Present Perfect vs Present Perfect Continuous | When to use each so that you don't make mistakes

Summary

El video trata sobre las diferencias entre el presente perfecto y el presente perfecto continuo en inglés. El presentador explica cómo se forman estos tiempos verbales y cuándo utilizarlos. El presente perfecto se usa para acciones finalizadas en un momento no especificado, mientras que el presente perfecto continuo se enfoca en acciones que comenzaron en el pasado y continúan en el presente. Aunque en algunos casos ambos tiempos son intercambiables, existen pequeñas diferencias que dependen del contexto, especialmente en cuanto a la permanencia o temporalidad de la acción.

Takeaways

• 📚 El presente perfecto se forma con el verbo auxiliar 'have' y el participio pasado del verbo principal.
• ⏳ El presente perfecto se usa para hablar de acciones terminadas en el pasado, en un momento no especificado.
• 🛑 El foco del presente perfecto está en el resultado de la acción más que en la acción misma.
• 🔄 El presente perfecto continuo se forma con 'have been' y el verbo principal en gerundio.
• ⏰ El presente perfecto continuo describe acciones no terminadas que comenzaron en el pasado y continúan en el presente.
• 🎯 En el presente perfecto continuo, el enfoque está en la acción en curso, no en el resultado.
• 🚫 Algunos verbos no se usan en formas continuas, especialmente los verbos de estado, como 'tener' o 'saber'.
• 🔄 Los tiempos presente perfecto y presente perfecto continuo son intercambiables con ciertos verbos como 'estudiar', 'aprender', 'trabajar', 'enseñar' y 'vivir'.
• 🏡 El presente perfecto tiende a usarse para acciones permanentes, mientras que el presente perfecto continuo sugiere una situación temporal.
• ✅ Las palabras 'for' y 'since' son claves para identificar la duración o el punto de inicio de una acción en el presente perfecto.

Q & A

¿Cuál es la diferencia principal entre el presente perfecto y el presente perfecto continuo?

La diferencia principal es que el presente perfecto se enfoca en el resultado de una acción terminada en un momento no especificado del pasado, mientras que el presente perfecto continuo se enfoca en una acción no terminada que comenzó en el pasado y continúa en el presente.

¿Cómo se forma el presente perfecto?

El presente perfecto se forma utilizando el verbo auxiliar 'have' seguido del participio pasado del verbo principal. Por ejemplo: 'I have been to China'.

¿Cómo se forma el presente perfecto continuo?

El presente perfecto continuo se forma utilizando el verbo auxiliar 'have been' seguido del verbo principal en gerundio (con la terminación -ing). Por ejemplo: 'I have been teaching this lesson'.

¿En qué tipo de acciones se utiliza el presente perfecto?

Se utiliza para hablar de acciones terminadas en el pasado en un tiempo no especificado, y el foco está en el resultado. Por ejemplo, 'I have visited Barcelona twice'.

¿Cuándo es más apropiado usar el presente perfecto continuo?

Es más apropiado usarlo para describir acciones que empezaron en el pasado y continúan en el presente, y donde el enfoque está en la acción en sí. Por ejemplo: 'I have been studying English for three years'.

¿Qué tipo de verbos no se deben usar en el presente perfecto continuo?

No se deben usar verbos que describen estados o no-acciones en el presente perfecto continuo, como 'have', 'own', 'know', 'love'. Por ejemplo, es incorrecto decir 'I have been having an iPhone'.

¿Cuál es una diferencia sutil entre 'I have studied English' y 'I have been studying English'?

Aunque son intercambiables y ambas frases indican una acción no terminada, 'I have been studying English' puede enfatizar más el proceso continuo de estudiar, mientras que 'I have studied English' puede sugerir una mayor importancia en el resultado.

¿Cómo se utilizan las palabras 'for' y 'since' con el presente perfecto y el presente perfecto continuo?

Ambos tiempos pueden usarse con 'for' para indicar una duración de tiempo (e.g. 'I have studied English for three years') y con 'since' para referirse a un punto específico en el tiempo (e.g. 'I have been studying English since 2018').

¿Qué diferencia puede haber entre usar el presente perfecto y el presente perfecto continuo con verbos como 'live' o 'work'?

Usar el presente perfecto ('We have lived in Budapest for four years') tiende a sugerir una situación más permanente, mientras que el presente perfecto continuo ('We have been living in Budapest for four years') puede sugerir que la situación es temporal o que está sujeta a cambio.

¿Cuándo es más probable que se use el presente perfecto continuo con las palabras 'recently' o 'lately'?

Es más probable que se use el presente perfecto continuo con 'recently' o 'lately' cuando se habla de acciones que comenzaron en el pasado reciente y continúan en el presente. Por ejemplo: 'Lately, we have been redecorating our home'.

Outlines

00:00

🤔 Diferencias entre el presente perfecto y el presente perfecto continuo

Este párrafo introduce el tema del video, donde el presentador explica las diferencias entre dos tiempos verbales en inglés: el presente perfecto y el presente perfecto continuo. Muchos estudiantes de inglés se confunden con estos tiempos, por lo que el video tiene como objetivo aclarar cuándo y cómo usarlos.

05:01

🕰️ Uso del presente perfecto: acciones pasadas no especificadas

Se explica cómo formar el presente perfecto con el verbo auxiliar 'have' y el participio pasado del verbo principal. El presente perfecto se usa para hablar de acciones finalizadas en el pasado en un momento no especificado, enfatizando el resultado más que la acción. Se dan ejemplos como 'I've been to China', donde la acción está terminada, pero no se indica cuándo sucedió.

10:02

⏳ Uso del presente perfecto continuo: acciones inacabadas

El presentador explica cómo formar el presente perfecto continuo usando 'have been' seguido del verbo en gerundio. Este tiempo verbal describe acciones inacabadas que comenzaron en el pasado, continúan en el presente y probablemente seguirán en el futuro. Se destaca que, a diferencia del presente perfecto, el foco está en la acción en curso, y se ofrecen ejemplos como 'I've been teaching this lesson'.

🚫 Verbos que no se usan en tiempos continuos

El presentador aclara que hay ciertos verbos, llamados 'non-action verbs', que no se deben usar en tiempos continuos, como en 'I have had an iPhone' en lugar de 'I've been having an iPhone'. Se proporciona una lista de estos verbos para que los estudiantes eviten usarlos incorrectamente en el presente perfecto continuo.

🔍 Comparaciones entre el presente perfecto y el presente perfecto continuo

Este párrafo compara ejemplos concretos de oraciones en presente perfecto y presente perfecto continuo, como 'We have redecorated our home' vs 'We have been redecorating our home'. Se explica que el primero se refiere a una acción terminada, mientras que el segundo describe una acción que aún continúa. Además, el uso de palabras como 'recently' o 'lately' se asocia al presente perfecto continuo para indicar acciones recientes en curso.

💭 Pensar y decidir: ejemplos con el presente perfecto y continuo

El presentador usa ejemplos como 'I have thought about buying a new phone' y 'I've been thinking about buying a new phone' para destacar las diferencias sutiles entre ambos tiempos verbales. En el primer caso, sugiere que la decisión de no comprar un teléfono ya fue tomada. En el segundo, indica que la decisión aún no ha sido finalizada.

📚 Estudiar inglés: ¿presente perfecto o continuo?

Se aborda la cuestión de si hay diferencias entre 'I have studied English' e 'I have been studying English', concluyendo que ambos tiempos son básicamente intercambiables. Se pueden usar indistintamente para describir una acción que comenzó en el pasado y continúa en el presente, y se enfatiza el uso de las preposiciones 'for' y 'since' para especificar la duración de la acción.

🏠 Vivir en Budapest: acción permanente vs temporal

Este párrafo profundiza en la sutil diferencia entre el presente perfecto y el presente perfecto continuo cuando se habla de situaciones permanentes y temporales. Por ejemplo, 'We have lived in Budapest' sugiere permanencia, mientras que 'We have been living in Budapest' implica que la situación podría ser temporal. El presentador utiliza su propia experiencia de vida en Budapest para ilustrar estos matices.

🧠 Mejorar la fluidez: comprender las diferencias

Se concluye el video reafirmando la importancia de entender las diferencias entre el presente perfecto y el presente perfecto continuo para mejorar tanto la comprensión como la fluidez en inglés. Se anima a los espectadores a usar el tiempo verbal adecuado al describir situaciones según su contexto, ya sea más permanente o temporal.

Keywords

💡Presente perfecto

El presente perfecto es un tiempo verbal en inglés que se forma con el verbo auxiliar 'have' y el participio pasado del verbo principal. Se utiliza para hablar de acciones completadas en un momento indeterminado del pasado. En el video, se usa como ejemplo 'I have been to China', donde no se especifica cuándo ocurrió la acción, solo que ya ha pasado.

💡Presente perfecto continuo

El presente perfecto continuo combina 'have been' con el verbo principal en gerundio (-ing). Indica una acción que comenzó en el pasado, continúa en el presente y probablemente se prolongará en el futuro. En el video, el presentador menciona 'I've been teaching this lesson', destacando una acción que sigue ocurriendo mientras habla.

💡Acciones terminadas

Este concepto se refiere a las acciones que se completaron en el pasado, sin especificar cuándo ocurrieron. En el presente perfecto, el enfoque está en el resultado de la acción, como en 'We have redecorated our home', donde el énfasis está en que la acción de redecorar ya se ha completado.

💡Acciones no terminadas

Las acciones no terminadas son aquellas que comenzaron en el pasado pero aún no han concluido. El presente perfecto continuo se usa para describir estas acciones en curso, como en 'We have been redecorating our home', donde se señala que la redecoración aún está en proceso.

💡Verbos no continuos

Estos son verbos que no se usan comúnmente en los tiempos continuos, ya que representan estados en lugar de acciones. Ejemplos incluyen 'have' (tener) y 'know' (saber). En el video, el presentador menciona que no sería correcto decir 'I've been having an iPhone', porque 'have' es un verbo de estado.

💡Resultados vs acciones

El contraste entre estos conceptos es clave en la diferencia entre el presente perfecto y el presente perfecto continuo. En el presente perfecto, el foco está en el resultado de la acción, como en 'I have studied English'. En cambio, en el presente perfecto continuo, el énfasis está en la acción en sí misma, como en 'I have been studying English'.

💡For y since

'For' y 'since' son palabras clave que se utilizan con el presente perfecto y el presente perfecto continuo para indicar la duración de una acción. 'For' se usa para hablar de un periodo de tiempo, mientras que 'since' señala un momento específico en el pasado. Por ejemplo, 'I have studied English for three years' y 'I have studied English since 2018' son intercambiables.

💡Acciones recientes

El presente perfecto continuo a menudo se utiliza para referirse a acciones recientes o en curso, especialmente cuando se usan las palabras 'lately' o 'recently'. En el video, el presentador da el ejemplo: 'Lately, we've been redecorating our home', lo que indica que la acción ha comenzado en un pasado reciente y aún continúa.

💡Acciones permanentes vs temporales

El uso del presente perfecto o el presente perfecto continuo puede depender de si la acción es vista como permanente o temporal. En el video, el presentador da el ejemplo 'I've worked for the company for 25 years', lo que sugiere una situación más permanente, en contraste con 'I've been working at home', que sugiere una situación temporal desde la pandemia.

💡Intercambiabilidad de tiempos

Algunos verbos como 'study', 'work', 'teach', 'live' y 'play' permiten el uso tanto del presente perfecto como del presente perfecto continuo sin un cambio significativo de significado. El presentador explica que decir 'I have studied English' o 'I have been studying English' es esencialmente lo mismo, ya que ambas formas indican una acción que empezó en el pasado y continúa hasta el presente.

Highlights

The present perfect tense is formed using the helping verb 'have' and the past participle of the main verb.

The present perfect is used to describe finished actions in the past at an unspecified time.

Present perfect continuous is formed using 'have been' plus the main verb with an '-ing' ending.

Present perfect continuous focuses on an unfinished action that started in the past, continues into the present, and may extend into the future.

The present perfect tense focuses more on the result of the action, while the present perfect continuous focuses more on the action itself.

Non-action verbs should not be used in the continuous tense (e.g., 'have,' 'know,' 'want').

Verbs like 'teach,' 'play,' 'learn,' 'study,' and 'work' can use both present perfect and present perfect continuous interchangeably.

A slight difference exists between the present perfect and present perfect continuous: the former is often used for more permanent situations, while the latter is used for more temporary actions.

Present perfect continuous can indicate a temporary situation, such as 'I've been working from home since the pandemic started,' suggesting it may change.

The words 'for' and 'since' are frequently used with the present perfect to indicate duration ('for') or a specific point in time ('since').

Using the present perfect, such as 'I have studied English for three years,' can describe both a finished and unfinished action depending on the context.

The focus in the present perfect continuous on ongoing action might imply the action is likely to continue into the future.

In general, with verbs like 'work' or 'live,' the present perfect continuous can imply a more temporary or changeable situation.

The lesson emphasizes that English rules, especially in spoken language, can often be flexible, such as using non-action verbs in the continuous form in casual contexts.

Understanding the subtle differences between these tenses can improve both English comprehension and fluency in various contexts.

Transcripts

i have studied english i have been

studying english

are these sentences the same or are they

different

let's find out

[Music]

hey everyone my name is wes this is

interactive english and the channel is

all about trying to help

you practice and improve your english

skills and today

i want to help you improve your grammar

because i want to talk about

the difference between two verb tenses

the present perfect

tense and the present perfect continuous

and these two verb tenses can confuse

many

english learners who may not be sure

about how and when to use them as well

as

if there are any differences between

these two tenses

so before we talk about the differences

between these two tenses

i want to focus on how and when we use

them

and let's first begin with the present

perfect tense which

on its own can be very confusing because

there are many languages

that do not even have a present perfect

tense so

i want to first begin with how you're

going to form the present perfect

you're going to have a helping verb and

a main verb

the helping verb is going to be have and

the main verb is going to be the past

participle and we often use the present

perfect to talk about a

finished action in the past at an

unspecified time we don't know when it's

happened

and it may have happened once or even

more than once

so let's look at this sentence right

here i've been to china

there i am right there again we have the

helping verb

have plus the past participle ben

it is the past participle of the verb to

be and

you know that this happened in the past

it's finished

but you don't know when it's an

unspecified time i've been to china or i

could say well i've been to barcelona

twice this happened in the past we don't

know when

but we know that it happened more than

once there were two different trips

to barcelona one thing that i want to

say about the present perfect tense is

that when you

use it the the result is really what

matters it's like you're more interested

in the result than the action and i will

come back to this when i talk to you

about

the present perfect continuous so let's

let's think of this situation right here

i'll

i'll use a question and say have you hit

the like button

all right this is a question in the

present perfect

the the helping verb have the past

participle hit that's our main verb

have you hit the like button and again

i'm really more interested in that

result and i really

am and i hope you would say yes i have

hit the like button

it happened in the past sometime between

when the video started and

right now and if you have let me know

write that to me

in the comments just say yes i have hit

the like button

practice writing using the present

perfect and then i will tell you

that you are awesome all right so with

all of those examples that i just

gave you we were talking about finished

actions

in the past so let's now

move to the present perfect continuous

and let's look at how this verb tenses

form again we're going to use the

helping verb

have plus the past participle of the

verb to be

which has been have been plus

our main verb with an ing at the end all

right so in this case

it's like we have two helping verbs have

been and then the main verb

and we use the present perfect

continuous to talk about an

unfinished action that started in the

past

it has continued to right now which is

the present

and then it will likely continue into

the future so i could say

well even right now i've been teaching

this lesson it's an unfinished action it

started in the past

it has continued until right now and

it's going to continue

into the future and i hope you keep

watching now one thing that i will say

about the present perfect continuous is

that when you

use this verb tense the focus is more on

the

action because something is continuing

so

with the present perfect tense the focus

is on the result

with the present perfect continuous the

focus is more on the action one thing

that i want to remind you of

and the reason why i'm so close is

because i want you to remember this

is that there are many non-action verbs

that you should not use in the

continuous

tense and i'm putting a list of these

verbs up here right now

so you you should not use these verbs

with the present perfect continuous but

again with english there the people are

always breaking these rules

especially in spoken english but just to

give you an example

the if i give you a sentence like oh i

have an iphone i'm talking about

uh ownership possession i could use it

in the present perfect tense and say

yeah i've had an iphone

for a long time uh it's an iphone 6 so

it's pretty old

but i could not use it in the continuous

tense

and say i've been having an iphone that

just sounds awkward so

just keep that in mind there are many

non-action verbs

that you should just avoid using in the

continuous tense so now let's look at

some differences

between the present perfect tense and

the present perfect continuous

and i want to make some quick

comparisons so you can see a clear

difference

between these two verb tenses especially

how the focus is different so let's look

at these two sentences

right here we have redecorated our home

and we have been redecorating our

home the sentence in the present perfect

we have redecorated our home

it's talking about an action that

started in the past

and it's now finished we don't know when

it started we don't know when it ended

but the focus is on that result that

yes it's it's finished the home it's it

has been redecorated

with the present perfect continuous

we're talking about an

unfinished action it started in the past

and it's still going on right now so the

focus

is on that action that continuing action

also and this may help you know when you

should use the present perfect

continuous

if we're talking about an unfinished

action that started

in the recent past people may use this

verb tense with the words

recently or lately so i could say well

recently

we've been redecorating our home or

lately we've been redecorating our home

that tells me that this action it

started in the recent past

it's a continuing action that's gone

until now and yes

it's probably going to continue into the

future here are another couple of

sentences

i have thought about buying a new phone

or i've been thinking about buying a new

phone

so with the present perfect it suggests

that

okay i i thought about this in the past

and then maybe i decided well no not to

buy

a new phone it's just something i

thought about and then i stopped

thinking about it

and as you can see i still have this old

iphone 6

and maybe i just made the decision not

to buy one if i use the present perfect

continuous and say well i've been

thinking about buying a new phone

that that suggests that i have not made

a decision not yet

i'm still thinking about it and maybe

maybe in the future

i'm going to make a decision and upgrade

and get a new phone because

yes this iphone 6 it's pretty old and

then we get to these two sentences right

here the sentences that you

have been waiting for this entire lesson

i have studied

english versus i have been studying

english

and the difference between these two

sentences

is nothing well pretty much nothing

because they're interchangeable you can

use them

and they basically mean the same thing

because

with both of these sentences we're

talking about

an unfinished action and i know

this can be a bit confusing because

you're probably thinking like wait a

second wes

you told us that the present perfect

tense is used to talk about

finished actions at an unspecified time

in the past

yes that is true but you can also use

the present perfect tense to talk

about an unfinished action that started

in the past

and and it's gone on for a duration of

time or since

a point in time and those are two key

words that i really want you to remember

and be aware of

because we often use the present perfect

with those words for and since so i

could say

i have studied english for three years

a duration of time or i could say i've

studied

english since 2018 both of those

sentences

mean the exact same thing the only

difference

is for and since i could also say this

using the present perfect continuous

i've been studying english

for three years or i've been studying

english since

2018. so if somebody were to ask you how

long have you been learning english

you could respond with any one of those

sentences

it's it's really your pick there there's

not much difference between them

but there is a very there is very slight

difference of course

i didn't want to i didn't want to

disappoint you i wanted to really get

into details here so i was saving it

for the very end and let's talk about

those slight differences right now which

is going to help you

kind of will not only improve your

comprehension but your overall fluency

as well

so the good news is is that when the

present perfect

and the present perfect continuous are

basically interchangeable and they

pretty much mean the same thing

we're only talking about a handful of

verbs we're talking about

the verbs like teach play learn

study and work all right so those are

five verbs

that when you're using either verb tense

they're fairly interchangeable and they

mean the same thing but again

there may be a slight difference in a

certain context

situation it may be more appropriate to

use

one over the other so let's look at

these sentences right here we've lived

in budapes

for four years and we've been living in

budapest since

2017. so just looking at them

generally speaking they're very similar

they're they pretty much the same you

could use them interchangeably

but there may be a slight difference

when talking about

the permanent versus temporary so let me

give you a couple of other sentences

that i think are

probably a little easier to understand

when i talk about the difference between

permanent

and temporary so you're more likely to

use the present perfect tense

when when talking about an unfinished

action that's more permanent

and you're more likely to use the

present perfect continuous when you're

talking about an unfinished action

that's perhaps temporary so i could say

well i've worked for the company for 25

years

i'm using the present perfect it's

unfinished because i still work for the

company

and and it's more permanent it makes you

think well i'm not

looking for a job i'm not going to

change jobs i'm just giving you

this information i've worked for the

company for 25 years

if i say this that well i usually work

downtown

but i've been working at home ever since

the pandemic started

in this case i'm i'm referring to an

action that started in the past

it's unfinished because i'm still

working at home

but it's only temporary it makes you

think that in the future

then perhaps i'm not going to be working

at home anymore

i'm talking about a temporary situation

i've been working at home

ever since the pandemic started so

hopefully that makes it a little easier

to

understand the difference when i say

permanent versus temporary

and you could even apply this to other

sentences that

you may use interchangeably so those two

sentences that i told you a moment ago

we have lived in budapest for four years

or we've been living in budapest since

2017. in general you could use either

one

but again if you use the present perfect

if i say we've lived in budapest since

2017

then it's a more permanent situation it

might make you think well

uh we're not currently looking to change

the place that we live that we're

probably going to stay in budapest

if i say it using the present perfect

continuous

the focus is on that action that that

we're

we're still living here it's unfinished

but

it makes you think it may only be

temporary because

in the future that that's going to

change if the focus is on that action

in all likelihood that action is going

to change in the future

in which case we would we'll move

somewhere else

and that this is only temporary and if

you were to ask me i

would say the second one we've been

living in budapest since 2017 because

this is probably not going to be our

permanent home

in the future we will likely move

somewhere else so even though with those

five verbs work play live teach

study you can use these verb tenses

interchangeably you you could read

a little more information into it if you

want to think about whether something is

going to be more permanent

or if something is temporary i

hope that that this lesson was easy to

follow and easy to understand

i know that i went i tried to go into a

fair bit of detail

in in talking about this information so

that you have a better understanding

to help you improve your comprehension

but also your fluency as well

if you are talking to somebody and

you're trying to explain some situation

that you are going to use the

appropriate verb tense

between the present perfect and the

present perfect continuous if you

enjoyed this lesson

please hit that like button as always

thank you so much for watching and i

will see you next time