Can you tell me why we use the present perfect continuous in this example?
I have been drinking more water recently, and I feel better.
I thought it must be present perfect simple, because when we say "I feel better", we are talking about the result. Isn't it?
When the present perfect continuous is used with a time expression, it means that action is still ongoing now. When present perfect is used with a time expression, it usually means the event is finished, and we're focusing on the results.
So, while the focus is on the results in this sentence, the speaker means to say that they are still drinking more water, and that's why the effect is persisting. It's not the result of something they did in the past, but of something they are still doing now.
"I feel better" is the current state of affairs. And hence the "simple present" tense.
"I have been drinking more water recently" is an activity or process that has been happening since the recent past till the present. Therefore it has to be expressed in "present perfect continuous" tense.
A single sentence can have multiple tenses in it. As an example
I was the president, I am the president and I will be the president.
