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"I need to make an appointment to see the dentist, but I've been putting it off."

I'm pretty sure the above sentence is grammatically correct, but does it sound more natural (particularly in American English) than saying:

  • "I need to make an appointment to see the dentist, but I keep putting it off."

  • "I need to make an appointment to see the dentist, but I've kept putting it off."

Does the use of the verb keep make the sentence sound more formal?

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Actually, "keep" + verb-ing is conversational and natural. These examples sound very good:

I need to make an appointment to see the dentist, but I've been putting it off
I need to make an appointment to see the dentist, but I keep putting it off

This would also sound natural:

I needed to make an appointment to see the dentist, but I kept putting it off

"I've kept" + noun sounds fine. E.g.

I've kept your letters for all these years . . .

But I think the continuous sense of verb-ing makes the present perfect ("I've kept" + verb-ing) impossible. It seems to suggest that a completed event continues to happen.

So I cannot recommend

I need to make an appointment to see the dentist, but I've kept putting it off.

In contrast, the following is also quite natural:

I've continued to send her messages

So the problem might be more idiomatic than logical. Which would be unsurprising.

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  • thank you so much for such a thorough answer with additional examples! Much appreciated. I've always thought "keep" means "continue" (He kept talking. = He continued to talk.) therefore "I've continued to send her messages." and "I've kept sending her messages." would be interchangeable, but I understand why you don't recommend "I've kept + verb-ing" (while other tenses like "I kept sending her..." or "I'll keep sending her..." are fine.)
    – Richard
    Jul 16, 2021 at 18:40

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