# has been



## BrendaP

Υια πέντε χρόνια μου χρωστούσε χρήματα....For five years she owed me money. 
Please help me express the fact that she "has been" owing me this money, and still does! I've been searching through "An Essential Grammar of the Modern Language" and can't find exactly what I need. For the verb χρωστάω, I can't find an "έχει" form.


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## Perseas

BrendaP said:


> Υια πέντε χρόνια μου χρωστούσε χρήματα....For five years she owed me money.
> Please help me express the fact that she "has been" owing me this money, and still does!


If she still owes, I would say «(αυτή) μου χρωστάει χρήματα εδώ και πέντε χρόνια».


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## BrendaP

Thanks Persea...that makes sense. Can I assume it would also work that way with the verb οφείλω?


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## Perseas

Yes, of course. Οφείλω and χρωστώ are synonyms. Οφείλω is somewhat more formal.


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## BrendaP

Thank you so much!


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## Eltheza

Hi Brenda!

Another example that might help...

*Present Tense in Greek* _for_ *Present Perfect (Simple and Continuous) in English

*Μένω εδώ (για) πέντε χρόνια = I've lived/I've been living here for five years

A weird one:

Εχω πέντε χρόνια να τον δω = I haven't seen him for five years (Greek students would often express this as, "I have five years to see him", which, of course, in English means something completely different!)

Καλό Πάσχα!


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## BrendaP

Thanks Eltheza.  I guess grammar, in any language, can be very frustrating! 

Καλό Πάσχα


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## kostakis

Hello, small correction on Greek letters... the capital letter for "γ" is: "Γ", because I saw you wrote "Y"


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## BrendaP

Thank you, kostaki. A very careless mistake.


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## Αγγελος

Another possible phrasing: Έχει πέντε χρόνια που μου χρωστάει χρήματα.
You mention that "For the verb χρωστάω, [you] can't find an "έχει" form.". That is correct (the verb χρωστάω is one of a very few -- είμαι, έχω, ξέρω, περιμένω and πρέπει come to mind -- that lack an aorist, and therefore also all perfect tenses); note, however, that even if such a form existed, it would NOT be the equivalent of the English present perfect continuous. "He has been paying installments ever since" is Πληρώνει δόσεις από τότε. 'Εχει πληρώσει means "he has paid" as in "he has paid ten out of eighteen installments", with no implication that he is still paying. Similarly, "I have known her snce 1990"  is τη γνωρίζω (or την ξέρω) από το 1990. Την έχω γνωρίσει (impossible with a date) would mean "I have met her" in the sense of "I made her acquaintance once, and therefore I know her."
To sum up, the Greek παρακείμενος expresses something that happened in the past (which is why it can always be replaced by the simple aorist), considered from the point of view of its present results (έχω φάει = I have had a meal, and therefore am not hungry now, or else I have had some exotic food in the past and therefore know what it tastes like or that I am not allergic to it) -- NOT a state or process that extends into the present.


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## BrendaP

Thanks so much for that explanation, Αγγελο. It's much easier to remember something when you have an explanation for it Much appreciated!


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