# FR: I have been writing a book



## james204

Hi guys,
I was wondering how you would translate the following phrase: "I have been writing a book". It's mainly the tense structure I need to use; neither the perfect, the imperfect nor the pluperfect seem to make sense. I guess you could say something like "je viens d'écrire un roman" but is there another way of phrasing this?
Thanks!


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## Elian.K

Try the present tense ; )


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## james204

Are you serious? It's that straightforward? I just need to say "j'écris un roman".... Mon Dieu, talk about over-complicating things! Merci beaucoup x


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## Oddmania

It depends on the context 

What's the whole sentence ?

If it's something like _I've been writing a novel for 7 months_, then it'll be _J'écris un roman depuis 7 mois._

If the fact of writing a novel was long and has just ended, then yes, something like _Je viens d'écrire un roman_ would be okay.


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## Chimel

james204 said:


> It's mainly the tense structure I need to use; neither the perfect, the imperfect nor the pluperfect seem to make sense.


What about the passé composé? _J'ai écrit un roman_.

What you loose is the continuous form, as it is not relevant in French here: we just say "I have written". But for the rest, I would say that our passé composé matches here your present perfect (except in specific contexts, of course, as already pointed out).


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## dratuor

the context will be the key here!

- j'écris un roman 
- je viens d'écrire un roman
- je suis en train d'écrire un roman

they all are possible translation regarding the context.


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## Elian.K

But anyway, I don't think the passé composé is possible in this case... Or I'm wrong?


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## dratuor

Elian.K said:


> But anyway, I don't think the passé composé is possible in this case... Or I'm wrong?



None that I can come up with.

the 'passé composé' clearly set the action in the past but the present perfect doesn't.


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## james204

OK thanks for all your help guys


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## Maître Capello

dratuor said:


> the 'passé composé' clearly set the action in the past but the present perfect doesn't.


Well, I wouldn't say that…

_I've written a book ↔ J'ai écrit un livre _
_I've been writing a book ≠ J'ai écrit un livre_


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## Chimel

dratuor said:


> the 'passé composé' clearly set the action in the past but the present perfect doesn't.


So does "je viens d'écrire un roman", which you suggested ! In both cases, the writing of the book is clearly a past action, even if it is not long ago with "je viens de": the book is finished.

So I think that the point is: does "I've been writing a book" necessarily imply in English that the book is *not* finished, that the person is still writing it?

If yes, then OK: we should go for a present tense ("j'écris" or "je suis en train d'écrire").

If not, then both "j'ai écrit" and "je viens d'écrire" could go, according to the context, I think.


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## dratuor

well it can happen that the book is finished but you they 'I've written a book' anyway if direct consequences are still on going.

'Why will you be interviewed on TV?' 'Because I have written a book' 
is an exemple, and I agree it would be translated by 'j'ai écris un livre'... My mistake!!
(I guess it's the exemple I couldn't come up with!)


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## Chimel

OK, then we still stay with this question (for James204 or any other native): when you say "I've been writing a book", are you still in the process of writing it or not?


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## quinoa

This" I've been writing a book" can also be translated into "J'écrivais ...", depending on wider context. What do you think about it?


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## Maître Capello

quinoa said:


> This" I've been writing a book" can also be translated into "J'écrivais ...", depending on wider context. What do you think about it?


No, you're mixing up the present perfect continuous and the past perfect continuous here… I can't think of any examples where the former would be translated as an imparfait.

The present perfect continuous  indeed indicates a continuous action that is most likely still on going or possibly that has just been completed.


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## Chimel

> The present perfect continuous indeed indicates a continuous action that is most likely still on going or possibly that has just been completed


 
Right! It is also what I found in my "Thomson & Martinet" grammar book:

"This tense [present perfect continuous] is used for an action which began in the past and is still continuing or has only just finished:
_I've been waiting for an hour and he still hasn't turned up. _[action still on ]
_I'm so sorry I'm late. Have you been waiting long?" _[action completed]​


If this is so, then we must answer that the translation of _I've been writing a book _depends on the context (action still going on or not):
- J'écris un livre / Je suis en train d'écrire un livre
or
- Je viens d'écrire un livre / J'ai écrit un livre

A possibility to reflect the ambiguity could perhaps be:
- J'ai commencé à écrire un livre (which normally imply that the persons is still writing it, but it can also be that he started and then gave it up).​


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