2

I am not native English speaker and I'm a bit confused about a basic grammar situation.

Here the situation:

My job consists of building websites. I have been working on a project for 2 weeks and still have a couple of weeks to go.

I want to share the current result to a friend:

"Hey guys, I'd like to share the website with you..."

  • I am making -> Because the website is still in developement right now
  • I have made -> Because I started to make it in the past and it is still in development
  • I make -> Because I work on it all days; it's habitual work.

Are any of these the correct phrase? What is the best/(only ?) way to say it ?

Improve this question
2
  • 9
    Much more appropriate a topic for English Language Learners Stack Exchange: ell.stackexchange.com
    – VTH
    Commented Aug 7, 2018 at 14:10
  • Your second option is better in this case. Like you said in your explanation of the context "I have been working on a project for 2 weeks and still have a couple of weeks to go." - Present Perfect Continuous. You can use the Present Perfect Simple "I have made..." to explain the developments you have made. Like @vth suggested ell.stackexchange.com is a good place to help you with the type of question you asked.
    – bookmanu
    Commented Aug 7, 2018 at 16:23

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
6

Each of your choices means something slightly different:

  • "Hey guys, I'd like to share with you the website I am making." This means that the website is still being built, but you'd like to share the work that you have done to this point.
  • "Hey guys, I'd like to share with you the website I have made." I finished the website; check it out!
  • "Hey guys, I'd like to share with you the website I build." I substituted I build for I make. This means that you are regularly updating the website (and your friends are invited to see it). There's nothing wrong with make in general, but you simply wouldn't say that you make a website; you'd use build. In fact, the previous two items would sound better with I am building and I have built.
Improve this answer
2
  • Would not recommend "I build" here. as J0hn pointed out, "I make" and "I build" are ungrammatical. Use am building or have built.
    – ale10ander
    Commented Aug 7, 2018 at 20:43
  • 1
    If you're looking for "are regularly updating", try "the website I maintain."
    – JKreft
    Commented Aug 7, 2018 at 21:26
1

Well firstly, the start of your sentence isn't correct grammar:

"Hey guys, I'd like to share with you the website ... "

"I am making" and "I [have] made" are both acceptable. "I made" is more commonly used rather than "I have made" for my area. "I make" is never correct with your current sentence starter. The choice between "I am making" and "I made" are really up to how you want the listener to perceive your development status on the website.

Improve this answer
1
  • 1
    To me, "I [have] made" means the web site is complete and the making it is finished. But in the question we see: "I have made -> Because I started to make it in the past and it is still in development". I would say "have been making" is acceptable, because that does imply that the work is ongoing. The other answer agrees with me.
    – Todd Wilcox
    Commented Aug 7, 2018 at 20:41

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .