Question

Select appropriate question to be asked for the given situation from these options:

You have a friend who is learning Arabic. You want to know the duration of his/her study. You ask:
(how long / learn / Arabic?) ________________________?

• A. How long will you learn Arabic?
• B. How long have you been learning Arabic?
  
• C. How long did you learn Arabic?
• D. How long do you learn Arabic?

Answer 1

The correct option is B How long have you been learning Arabic?

The present perfect continuous tense (also known as the present perfect progressive tense) shows that something started in the past and is continuing at the present time. Here the action of 'learning Arabic' is continuing to the present. The present perfect continuous in an interrogative is formed using the construction has/have you been + the present participle (root verb + -ing). Hence, Option B is correct.

The rest of the options either indicate that the action has already happened (Option C), or happens in the present (Option D), or will happen in the future (Option A), hence they're incorrect.