@Nat093,
Nat093 wrote:
Ok I get your point. But I'm still confused about the definition of PPC which we use to express: "actions that began in the past and are still continuing or HAVE ONLY JUST FINISHED".
So, for example, if my friend says on the phone:
I have been ironing my clothes. (= she can still be ironing or she has only just finished)
Am I right?
Yes, that's right. It has to have been finished very recently so that it still affects her present circumstance. Maybe she just finished ironing when the phone rang, for example, so the listener can imagine that she's briefly betwen activities.
Quote:"Why did you turn off the TV? I've been watching that programme"?
Come to think of it, that sounds less strange than it did the first time I read it. Somehow, though, I expect a time phrase like "for an hour." Most people I know would say, "I'm (still) watching that" with the expectation that the TV will get turned back on as a result of their complaint.
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