Present perfect or simple past with "for the last twenty minutes"?

Question

My teacher give me a question

You know she (stand)______ looking at that picture for the last twenty minutes.

and my job is complete this sentence with any verb tense provided it makes sense.

My teacher said it must be present perfect:

You know she has stood looking at that picture for the last twenty minutes.

But I think the simple past is correct:

You know she stood looking at that picture for the last twenty minutes.

It seems to me "for the last twenty minutes" is a completed time period, it can't include the present moment. So we can't use the present perfect.

Can you explain to me which is correct?

You can definitely use present perfect. And if she is still looking at the picture, it's definitely the tense I would expect. (But if she's not still looking at the picture, both simple past and present perfect work fine.) — Peter Shor, Commented Jun 1, 2017 at 15:09
(1) "You know she has stood looking at that picture for the last twenty minutes." is not right. (2) "You know she has been standing [and] looking at that picture for the last twenty minutes." is better. (3) "last 20 minutes" may or may not include the present moment. (4) your completion is also valid. (5) some teachers do not like students who disagree, so better to go along, atleast to get the grades. — Prem, Commented Jun 1, 2017 at 15:10
“You know what? She’s been standing there looking at picture for twenty minutes now!” — tchrist, Commented Jun 1, 2017 at 15:17
Peter's and Prem's answers are at variance. This is possibly a US - non-US difference regarding idiomaticity. As a Brit, I prefer 'has been standing looking ...' though as it's clunky, I'd echo tchrist. With the 'that' that's still in his word-processor. — Edwin Ashworth, Commented Jun 1, 2017 at 16:06

hbtpoprock · Accepted Answer · 2018-10-27 19:13:22Z

1

If I were you, I would use present perfect continuous.

You know she has been standing (and) looking at that picture for the last twenty minutes (until now and so on).

answered Oct 27, 2018 at 19:13

hbtpoprock

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