Perfect continuous tenses in French ('I have been....'), confusion!
Posted: 2018-09-09, 11:44
I've been learning French for a while and I have some questions regarding the perfect continuous tenses and whether they exist in French or not. In English 'the perfect progressive tense' is the tense with 'have been', for example 'I have been practicing my French today', or 'I have been very busy', etc. According to some sources, the perfect continuous tense does not exist in French, whereas other sources say you can use the word 'été' for 'been'. So which is correct? I want to know whether it's possible in French to use 'J'ai été...' for 'I have been...'.
Here are some sentences using the perfect continuous tense - can you tell me whether I have them correct in French?
1) 'I have been practicing my French today' - 'J'ai été praticqué mon français aujourd'hui', or do I just use the perfect or imperfect tense, e.g. 'Je praticqais mon français aujourd'hui'/j'ai praticqué mon français aujourd'hui'?
2) 'I have been here (in Scotland') for 3 years' - Is it correct to say 'Je suis ici en Ecosse pour/depuis 3 années', or is it possible to say 'J'ai été ici en Ecosse pour/depuis 3 années' aussi?
3) 'I have been doing it for 3 years' - 'Je le fais depuis 3 années', or can I say 'J'ai été le fais pour/depuis 3 années'?
4) 'I have been very busy today' - 'J'ai été très occupé aujourd'hui' - is this correct, or better to use the present, perfect or imperfect tenses here?
5) For ''What have you been doing today?' - how would I say this in French, can I use été?
6) What about for the passive voice, for example 'the house has been sold'? In this case, can I use 'été', e.g. 'la maison a été vendue' (for 'the house has been sold', etc)?
Thanks for your help!
Here are some sentences using the perfect continuous tense - can you tell me whether I have them correct in French?
1) 'I have been practicing my French today' - 'J'ai été praticqué mon français aujourd'hui', or do I just use the perfect or imperfect tense, e.g. 'Je praticqais mon français aujourd'hui'/j'ai praticqué mon français aujourd'hui'?
2) 'I have been here (in Scotland') for 3 years' - Is it correct to say 'Je suis ici en Ecosse pour/depuis 3 années', or is it possible to say 'J'ai été ici en Ecosse pour/depuis 3 années' aussi?
3) 'I have been doing it for 3 years' - 'Je le fais depuis 3 années', or can I say 'J'ai été le fais pour/depuis 3 années'?
4) 'I have been very busy today' - 'J'ai été très occupé aujourd'hui' - is this correct, or better to use the present, perfect or imperfect tenses here?
5) For ''What have you been doing today?' - how would I say this in French, can I use été?
6) What about for the passive voice, for example 'the house has been sold'? In this case, can I use 'été', e.g. 'la maison a été vendue' (for 'the house has been sold', etc)?
Thanks for your help!