Haven't played / Haven't been playing (2025)

I came across these examples in a grammar book :

1. She hasn't played/hasn't been playing football since she broke her leg last year.
2. She hasn't played/hasn't been playing chess for very long, so she still forgets the rules sometimes.
Which tenses are correct in the above examples?

effect3 said:

So, in the above examples we should use Present Perfect Simple, right?

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Right.

Copyright said:

I would use "haven't played." Not a chance for "haven't been playing."

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When do we use 'haven't been playing' then? I always say 'been ing' in positive sentences, for example:
"I've been playing this game for one year."
"How long have you been playing this game."

If you stopped playing completely in 1999, there's no point in using the continuous aspect.

This might make sense:
I haven't been playing tennis regularly since 1999. (I'd use "haven't played")

effect3 said:

She hasn't played/hasn't been playing chess for very long,

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I see nothing wrong with either form, but I'd use the continuous aspect there.

velisarius said:

If you stopped playing completely in 1999, there's no point in using the continuous aspect.

This might make sense:
I haven't been playing tennis regularly since 1999. (I'd use "haven't played")

I see nothing wrong with either form, but I'd use the continuous aspect there.

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So you're saying it's either:
'I haven't played tennis since 1999.'
or
'I haven't been playing tennis regularly since 1999.'

Ashraful Haque said:

So you're saying it's either:
'I haven't played tennis since 1999.'
or
'I haven't been playing tennis regularly since 1999.'

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It seems to me that, if you still play tennis on and off, the continuous form is okay. If you stopped completely in 1999 then it isn't.

Let's see whether others would agree with that.

velisarius said:

It seems to me that, if you still play tennis on and off, the continuous form is okay. If you stopped completely in 1999 then it isn't.

Let's see whether others would agree with that.

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I agree. "I haven't been playing tennis regularly since 1999" tells me that you played tennis regularly until 1999 but now you only play occasionally.

Bamboo_Pandamonium said:

So, could anyone make it clear:
Do I emphasize the length of action if i use "They haven't been playing golf for long"?

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This tells me either:
that they played golf for the first time recently; or
they they are playing golf right now and started this round of gold a short time ago.

Bamboo_Pandamonium said:

Do I emphasize the result if I use "They haven't played golf for long" (result: they're rusty now and cannot play as well as they used to play before)?

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No. The sentence is not about rustiness. That meaning is given by "It's (been) a while since they last played golf."

I don't think I'd say, "They haven't played golf for long."

sound shift said:

I agree. "I haven't been playing tennis regularly since 1999" tells me that you played tennis regularly until 1999 but now you only play occasionally.

This tells me either:
that they played golf for the first time recently; or
they they are playing golf right now and started this round of gold a short time ago.

No. The sentence is not about rustiness. That meaning is given by "It's (been) a while since they last played golf."

I don't think I'd say, "They haven't played golf for long."

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Got it. What about something like these two below (I've found them in my coursebook and it's stated that there is NO difference in meaning and that's why I don't understand sometimes why can't we just use only Continuous tense with for and since):
Let's imagine that I have to begin my story with either:
I've been living in London for a year.
I've lived in London for a year.
Which one is better and what the difference between them and between the negative forms?

sound shift said:

I agree. "I haven't been playing tennis regularly since 1999" tells me that you played tennis regularly until 1999 but now you only play occasionally.

This tells me either:
that they played golf for the first time recently; or
they they are playing golf right now and started this round of gold a short time ago.

No. The sentence is not about rustiness. That meaning is given by "It's (been) a while since they last played golf."

I don't think I'd say, "They haven't played golf for long."

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Also I would like to ask if I didn't play golf for the past 10 years and I want to make excuses because of my bad golf performance would it be correct to say: "I haven't played golf for 10 years" or "I haven't been playing golf for 10 years" is still a better option?

Bamboo_Pandamonium said:

Also I would like to ask if I didn't play golf for the past 10 years and I want to make excuses because of my bad golf performance would it be correct to say: "I haven't played golf for 10 years" or "I haven't been playing golf for 10 years" is still a better option?

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I think they are both equally ambiguous. The choice of aspect is not really relevant to the question of whether you mean that you began playing, or that you stopped playing, more or less than 10 years ago.

se16teddy said:

I think they are both equally ambiguous. The choice of aspect is not really relevant to the question of whether you mean that you began playing, or that you stopped playing, more or less than 10 years ago.

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How does this sentence sound?

"I haven't played golf since 10 years ago."

Are you asking about "since ... ago" rather than the present perfect? If so, you'll find lots of other threads if you search on since ago: since ago - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

Ashraful Haque said:

How does this sentence sound?

"I haven't played golf since 10 years ago."

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It sounds like a very weird way to say I haven’t played golf for 10 years.

velisarius said:

If you stopped playing completely in 1999, there's no point in using the continuous aspect.

This might make sense:
I haven't been playing tennis regularly since 1999. (I'd use "haven't played")

I see nothing wrong with either form, but I'd use the continuous aspect there.

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Hello, @velisarius,

Is my understanding correct?

I haven't been playing tennis regularly since 1999. -> Sounds okay.
I haven't played tennis regularly since 1999. -> You'd use this one.
But
She hasn't played/hasn't been playing chess for very long, so she still forgets the rules sometimes. (She started two months ago, and she hasn't memorized all the rules yet) -> Either is fine, but you'd use the continuous.

What about this one? (@se16teddy gives a partial answer to this question in post #16, I just want to clarify)

She hasn't been playing tennis for two years.
Do I need 'regularly' to justify the use of the present perfect continuous if I want it to mean that she stopped two years ago?
Will it be understood as a sentence describing the situation in which she picked up tennis two years ago if I don't add 'regularly'?

Thank you

Don’t forget that WordReference is a very, very special and extraordinary place, where sentences sometimes exist without context.

1. She has been playing for two years.
2. She has not been playing for two years.

This thread assumes that "not" in the second sentence refers to the "two years" element. This may or may not be correct: for example She hasn’t been playing tennis for two years - she’s been slaying tennis for two years may mean she has been playing or learning extraordinarily well.

If "not" refers to "two", sentence 2 means that it is either more or less than two years. It can in some contexts suggest zero years. Then the context may or may not seem to imply things about what happened before the two years began. I don’t think the word “regularly” helps much with that: before the two years began, she may have been playing irregularly, or not at all - or maybe even constantly ….

se16teddy said:

The choice of aspect is not really relevant to the question of whether you mean that you began playing, or that you stopped playing, more or less than 10 years ago.

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Thank you, @se16teddy.

What's relevant then?

Tony_M said:

What's relevant then?

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The context, I suppose. For example, we may be able to infer things from whether the time before the playing, or the time after the playing, is relevant.

Maybe you should design a language in which verb forms are more specific in this sort of area!