EN: I have been travelling a lot lately

M

Meedfried

Senior Member
France-Normandie
French
Hello,

When someone asks me "How have you been doing lately?", he/she wants to know what I have done so far.

So, I have to reply for example "I have been travelling" or "I have been doing not very well" or even "I have been doing sport"
Do these sentences mean that I am still doing these activities or they do not imply the future, just why I have done so far?

En effet, si je traduis " I have been travelling a lot lately" le traducteur écrit "j'ai beaucoup voyagé dernièrement" ou "je voyage beaucoup ces derniers temps".

Thank you
 
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    OLN said:
    Le present perfect continuous n'implique pas que l'action va se poursuivre dans le futur.
    Click to expand...
    Ce n'est certes pas une conséquence directe, mais c'est très souvent le cas. En l'occurrence, dans I have been traveling, je comprends que la personne a beaucoup voyagé ces derniers temps et qu'il est sous-entendu qu'elle va continuer à le faire dans les temps à venir.

    Voir aussi :
    EN: I've been doing / did a lot of training lately
    EN: present perfect / present perfect continuous/progressive
    EN: until lately + present perfect continuous ?
     
    Ainsi si quelqu'un pose cette question, puis je changer le temps de réponse pour enlever les ambiguïtés ?
    "What have you been doing lately?"
    "I was very busy with my works"

    Merci
     
    Although the present perfect continuous typically implies a continuing activity, the addition of the adverb ‘lately’ modifies this, removing that implication: such an activity may be continuing, or it may have recently finished.

    Thus, if I tell someone: ‘I’ve been extremely busy with projects lately – but the work suddenly came to an end two days ago’, there is no contradiction between the two clauses.

    By contrast, someone who says ‘I’ve been writing emails since 8 am this morning’ implies that their work has not finished.

    So the answer to your question is: Your replies do not imply present (or future) activity, just what you have been doing in an unspecified period between the recent past and ‘now’. You may still be doing these things, but equally you may have finished.

    No need to modify the answers you gave to remove any ambiguity. ‘I have been travelling’ is perfectly correct and unambiguous. Moreover, changing the tense creates a contradiction; the tense of the answer should normally agree with that of the question. Of course, you could add a qualification if you wanted to make it clear that the activity has now stopped: ‘I’ve been very busy with work – although things suddenly went quiet three days ago.’

    By the way, there’s ambiguity in the question the person asked you. In American usage, ‘How have you been doing lately?’ actually means (in British English) ‘How have you been going lately?’ / “Comment tu vas ces derniers temps ?” In which case, you’re not being asked what you were doing.
     
    @Allesia to finish with this conversation" I have been travelling a lot lately " could mean I am still traveling, this is why I should say if not " I have been travelling a lot lately, but now I am going back to work" ?
     
    For me, someone asking the question: How have you been doing lately? is enquiring about my health / my life in general in the recent past.
    I would answer something like: Fine, thanks. / I've been doing well, thanks. / Not too bad considering. / ...
     
    snarkhunter said:
    ... I would not say so. You might be mistaking "how" for "what".
    To me, "How have you been doing lately?" rather means "Did things go fine for you lately?": Do native English speakers here confirm?
    Click to expand...
    Absolutely, I confirm. :)
    How have you been doing = Comment ça va ces derniers temps?
    What have you been doing = Tu fais quoi ces derniers temps?
     
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