English Language & Usage Asked on March 18, 2021
Please answer and explain this:
"David could help, as he (has been serving/has served) as an ambassador for the last seven years and won’t retire until 2010."
According to the book that i’m using, the correct answer is "has served". My initial answer was "has been serving" since the sentence tells us that David was and still an ambassador (something that started in the past and continued until now) MOREOVER there is a duration of the action – "for the last seven years". To my knowledge, if there is a duration the form of present perfect continuous should be used, which is "has been serving". I’m confused. Please explain it further. Thanks.
"Has served" is the present perfect, whereas "has been serving" is the present perfect continuous. Let's look at the differences between the two.
In this case, the present perfect and the present perfect continuous describe an event that has started in the past and is still happening.
Although the continuous tense usually puts more emphasis on the activity itself, "sometimes we can use either form and the meaning is the same [Cambridge]:"
I’ve lived here for 20 years.
I’ve been living here for 20 years.
The above two sentences are very similar to the one that you wrote.
It is really the author's choice in the sentence you provided. If the author chooses the continuous form, it puts a little more emphasis on the duration of David's service as an ambassador.
If the author wants to emphasize that David's been serving for 7 years, they should use the present perfect continuous tense. If they want to emphasize the fact that he isn't going to retire until 2010, then they should use the (simple) present perfect tense.
Note: there are other uses for these two tenses, but this answer only covers the uses that the OP used.
Answered by user392938 on March 18, 2021
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