"have not done" or "have not been doing"

Question

I want to convey that I didn't speak English in the last two years and I'm not speaking English now.

I haven't spoken English for two years.

I haven't been speaking English for two years.

In this case, which is proper?

I removed your second question, as it has no relevance to the first. Please ask one question at a time. — M.A.R., Aug 27 '16 at 07:25

Sam Harrington · Answer 1 · 2016-08-27T06:15:02.423

0

Both sentences imply that now you are speaking English,

I haven't spoken English for two years, (but I am now).

I haven't been speaking English for two years, (but I am now).

What you should say is;

I haven't spoken English for two years, I still don't.

or

I haven't been speaking English for two years, I still don't

edited Aug 27 '16 at 06:15

answered Aug 27 '16 at 06:10

Sam Harrington

Does the sentence "I have been speaking English for 2 years" imply that I still speak English now? – Ming Wang Aug 27 '16 at 06:17
yes it does. ** – Sam Harrington Aug 27 '16 at 06:19
http://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/78339/englishs-imperfect-tense-and-its-imperfection This explains why it implies that much better than I can @MingWang – Sam Harrington Aug 27 '16 at 06:20
I don't understand why both "haven't been speaking English" and "have been speaking English" imply that I'm speaking English now. – Ming Wang Aug 27 '16 at 06:25
No, 'haven't been speaking English,' implies that you still DO NOT, but 'have been speaking English,' implies that you still DO. – Sam Harrington Aug 27 '16 at 06:28
Thank you for your answer. But why you wrote "Both sentences imply that now you are speaking English"? Is that a typo? – Ming Wang Aug 27 '16 at 06:49

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