1

I would like to know if I am correct about this. I have trouble climbing stairs because of health problems. I have just climbed stairs and I am out of breath.

Can I say: "I am out of breath because I have just been climbing the stairs"?

I am really proud of this fact and so I say: "I have climbed the stairs!"

Improve this question

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

"I am out of breath because I have just been climbing the stairs" is correct.

However, "I am out of breath because I just climbed the stairs" is slightly more natural.

"I have climbed the stairs!" is also correct.

Improve this answer
19
  • 1
    To add, I would say 'I just climbed the stairs!' also demonstrates this but is colloquial because it misses the verb have. If you wished to say this phrase with correct grammar, 'I've just climbed the stairs!' (the contraction sounding more natural) would work too.
    – embefær
    Commented Jan 22, 2021 at 13:48
  • 1
    'I've just climbed the stairs' would be the most natural in British English.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Jan 22, 2021 at 14:00
  • 2
    @anouk: Don't think too much about the possibility that using the Perfect and/or Continuous might be "less natural". It's nothing to do with the basic construction in I am out of breath because... [explanatory assertion]. What's relevant here is that "climbing the stairs" is usually thought of as a short duration (and hence, "likely to be completed") action. More generally, I am out of breath because I have just been running / jogging / weightlifting are much more likely than, say, ...because I have just jogged / lifted weights (which to my ear are truly awful! :)
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jan 22, 2021 at 15:39
  • 1
    @embefær: It's not "colloquial" to use Simple Past I just climbed the stairs rather than the Perfect version I have just climbed the stairs. In some contexts the choice of verb form here might be governed by the intended meaning, but sometimes they're precisely equivalent (particularly given that the word just implies "recently", which itself implies "relevance to time of utterance" just as much as using Present Perfect does).
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jan 22, 2021 at 15:48
  • 2
    For the reason that FumbleFingers has already explained. Climbing the stairs is (normally) a brief action for the purpose of getting to the upper storey (unless you live in a high building without a lift!), not an ongoing activity like running or playing tennis. You certainly can say "I've been climbing the stairs" if you have found it especially laborious, or have had to climb several flights - but it wouldn't be the usual expression.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 9:52

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .