- I have been doing this.
- I have got a letter.
Can the sentence above be recent past of the past participle?
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I have been paragliding - many times when I was younger, but not since I broke my leg thirty years ago. As a rule you'd need context to know whether any given usage reflects "recent past" or not. But note that in your second example got is syntactically and semantically superfluous - it means exactly the same as I have a letter (I'm in possession of a letter right now).– FumbleFingersCommented May 19, 2016 at 15:19
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3@FumbleFingers: Better tell that to AOL.– TimRCommented May 19, 2016 at 15:29
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@FumbleFingers It could mean "I have received a letter".– CatijaCommented May 19, 2016 at 19:05
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@Catija: I've never been too sure how AmE works in this context, but from my BrE perspective I would never say, for instance, I have got a letter this morning. If I didn't want to use received I'd just say I got a letter..., (or feasibly I've gotten a letter..., but I suspect that might not sound right to AmE speakers, and it wouldn't exactly be a natural choice for me either).– FumbleFingersCommented May 20, 2016 at 14:04
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@FumbleFingers Both of those are fine in AmE... we (generally) jut get a bit fast and loose with "got" and tense. I think adding "just" makes it a bit easier to see the usage... "I've just got this letter in from her today." As a note, I wouldn't use it to mean "I have received a letter"... but it is a valid interpretation.– CatijaCommented May 20, 2016 at 14:11
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1 Answer
Depending on the context, the present perfect continuous (sentence #1) may mean an action that happens over a period of time; it's still happening. For example:
I have continuously been doing this for 6 hours.
This tense may also indicate an action that ends just before the present. For examples:
I have been swimming. That's why my hair is wet.
I have been doing this without a break for 6 hours. That's why I am feeling tired.
As for the second sentence, its construction seems to be in the present perfect, but it's in the present simple. In fact, the idiom 'have got' used in informal English = have. However, you can rephrase your sentence as follows in the present perfect to show the action in the recent past:
I have received a letter, I have gotten a letter, or I recently got a letter.
As AlanCarmack has commented, "I have got a letter" is also the present perfect in British English.
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I have got a letter is also the present perfect in British English. Commented May 19, 2016 at 23:51