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We can imagine such a situation that 2 months ago I got some special project which I have to be working on. Now I've been working on it. And I can say:

1) I am working on it

Pointing at my action like at some temporal period of time. I am not working right now, because it's night, but at this period of time, yes, I am working.

2) I have been working

Pointing that I have some deal, I got it in the past and I have been wroking on it since then.

The problem is it seems to be completely Interchangeable and I see no difference between them. What to do?

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  • You can express it like this: "I was working on the project yesterday, and I'm still working on it (currently/presently)." There are, of course, many other ways to say it more precisely.
    – Learning Equals Success
    Mar 31, 2019 at 11:24
  • So, both variants of mine work alright?
    – Michael Azarenko
    Mar 31, 2019 at 13:01
  • Can you please use a forward slash (/) instead of a backslash when separating options? Thanks.
    – user3395
    Mar 31, 2019 at 15:06
  • Yes, but as @anouk mentioned in their answer, specifying a duration in each of the tenses you used can represent the meaning you want to achieve better.
    – Learning Equals Success
    Mar 31, 2019 at 16:24
  • @Tasneem ZH can you please give an example of specifying the duration for both of sentences?
    – Michael Azarenko
    Apr 1, 2019 at 11:59

1 Answer 1

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Both present continuous and present perfect continuous can be used for a temporary habit. Present continuous is used with presently, at the moment, these days. Present perfect continuous is used with recently and lately. In this context you can use either. If you add a duration, you can only use present perfect continuous.

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