In which way "verb+-doing" can be used to mean "something has been done"

Solution 1:

You're asking in what way present tense verbs can be used to show something has been done.

You can say "I am digging the garden", which is a present-tense form of the verb to dig. When you have finished you could either say "I dug the garden today" (which is the past tense of the verb), or "I have been digging the garden today".

Also, a present-tense verb can be used as a noun for the job that it relates to. A good example of this is ironing.

The action of pressing clothes with a flat iron is the verb to iron, so while you were doing it in the present tense you would say "I am ironing". However, the job, or task, of doing it is called "ironing" (a noun) and, certainly in British English, the workload - a pile of unironed clothes - can also be named "ironing".

So if you said, "I have finished the ironing" you are speaking about a job that has finished. Although you are using an "-ing" form of a verb, it is really being used a noun.


So, you can use a present tense verb - an "-ing" word - in the past tense by saying "I have been digging/ironing/running", and you can also use some verbs in this form as nouns.