4.1. Грамматическое время Present Perfect Continuous

The sun has been shining all day today. (It's still shining.) Today he has been playing tennis for hours. (He's just come home, very tired.) It has been raining, but it has stopped now. (The streets are wet.) This tense is used for a continuous action begun in the past and either still continuing or recently completed but with continuing effects.

He has been slaving at his books every evening for months now. I have been writing poems to her regularly for years now. It is also used to describe actions repeated many times over a period of time up to the present.

I have lived here since 1970. I have been living here since 1970. It has been raining for days. It hasn't rained for days. While both Present Perfect tenses are often possible, the Continuous form is more likely when the nature and duration of the action need emphasis, and is less likely in the negative.

I have been drinking tea all the morning. (How long?) I have drunk five cups of tea this morning. (How many?) That fellow has drunk my whisky. (It's all gone.) That fellow has been drinking my whisky. (He's left me a little.) The Continuous tense often emphasises a continuous period, or an incomplete action; the short Present Perfect — a number or quantity, or a completed action.

N.B. The Continuous tense often occurs with 'for' and 'since', and with expressions like 'all day', 'all night'.

4.2. Наречия very / too / enough

He works very hard. (A fact; probably, he deserves to pass his exam.) He works too hard. (I do not approve; he will harm himself.) It is very expensive. (I may or may not buy it.) It is too expensive. (Therefore I can't or won't buy it.) 'Very' has no negative idea, while 'too' always suggests the presence of more than is required or desired.

He hasn't enough time.	They were easy enough for you.
He didn't look carefully enough.	I think this will be enough.

'Enough' occurs before a noun, after an adjective or adverb, and by itself.

4.3. Притяжательный падеж

I went to Bob's party. I didn't like his sisters' friends. (Bob has more than one sister.) I liked his children's records. (He has several children.) His brother is James'(s) teacher. (One boy; pronounced 'James' or 'James-iz'.) This is Bob's mother's house. (Likely to be spoken only.)

Are you a friend of Bob's mother's? (Again spoken: double genitive, rare in written English.) What's the tall man's name? What's the name of the tall man in the corner? ('of the' is easier to say, and more acceptable to write, than 'the of the tall man's in the corner name') I'm studying the history of the French Revolution. Thank goodness it's the end of the exams. Generally, the genitive in (s) '(s) is used with people and most animals, while 'of the' is used in all other cases. When a person-noun is followed by a qualifying phrase, 'of the' is sometimes used.

Note also these expressions using the 's'-genitive:

A couple of years' time.	A few hours' break.
An hour's work.	A pound's worth of petrol.
The school's traditions.	Harpole's pubs.