Present perfect & Present Perfect continuous

Matt has climbed the mountain.

In this contest, the important thing is that something has been finished.
Who is talking is interested in the result of the activity, not the activity itself.




Matt has been rockclimbing 

Who is talking is interested in the activity, it doesn't matter whether something has been finished or not.
In this example the activity(climbing the mountain) has not been finished.






more examples:
- The garden is cleaned now, I have cleaned it
- My clothes are dirty, I have been cleaning the garden

- Jane has eaten all the food i bought
- Jane has been losing too much weight, recently



It is used the present perfect to say how much, how many or how many times (for completed actions):
- Matt has written 10 pages of the thesis today.
- We have had 3 lesson of History this week.

The present perfect continuous is used to say how long (for an activity that is still happening):
- How long has been taking you writing your thesis?
- We have been having this lesson since 9 o'clock

Present perfect continuous

Is it snowing?
No, but the house is under the snow.
It has been snowing.




The present perfect continuous is used for an activity that has recently stopped or just stopped: there is a connection with now

examples:
- You look tired. Have you been working till now?
- I've been talking to Paul, about our situation at work, and he agrees with me
- I've been reading this book, utill now.
- How long have you been smoking for?

The present perfect continuous is used with expressions like: how long, for, since.
The activity is still happening or it has just stopped.

- How long have you been playing that videogame, today?
- How long have you been living in London for?
- Matt! where have you been? I have been looking for you for the last hour!

compare this example:

Thom is building a brick wall. (he is building a wall now)

Thom has been building a wall (he started yesterday, and now he is still working on it)


take a look at this example:

How long have we been using oil?
The first oil well was in Pennsylvania in 1859.
We have been using oil for 152 years.





also

- Do you know each other well?
- Yes, we have been knowing each other for a long time!