O, Glorious Grammar! [chinese version]

my try google translated try 我一直在读 - I have been reading 我一直 - I have been

But you wouldnt have to add 了or 吧？

I donno that´s what google gave me 8-(

一直 does not fit. 一直 is for something you do repeatingly, e.g.: 你一直抱怨 nǐ yìzhí bàoyuàn you are always complaining My wife suggested the following translation: 我已经开始读这本书了 。。。 wǒ yǐjīng kāishǐ dú zhè běn shū le I already started reading this book (still continuing) The 已经开始 for the "have been" (in the sense of "already started"), the 了 for the continuous aspect. Alternatively you can use 看 (kàn) for "read".

Would you use it in the same form if you were asking "What have you been up to"?

Sorry, just heard that 一直 is also OK It has the meaning "I am still reading that book"

i agree with u, henning. as u said,　Iit means u already started reading this book (still continuing) .我正在读这本书.

把 is used for future tense then?

把， is not used for future tense, 把 is a particle (语气助词)，to shift the Object before the Verb, (this gives your sentence a Subject, Object, Verb structure which seems a little weird to English speakers). This word 把 (ba3) is used in sentences expressing an action being performed on an object. For example, 把那只笔给我，(Give me that pen). In one of the lessons John had given a cheat that you can use, a "crutch" if you will until you get used to the structure...think of 把, as the equavilent to our English word "take", for example: "Can you please take this test and put it on the teachers desk?" (请你把这张考卷放在老师的写字台上）or, "Take this tray and give it to the customer on table #12" （把这个碟子递给那个坐在十二号桌子的客人）etc, etc.

hi everybody, "I have been reading at home" in Chinese can be: 我一直都在家看书。 (Wǒ yīzhí dōu zài jiā kànshū.)