Present Perfect Continuous Tense
How do we make the Present Perfect Continuous Tense?
The structure of the present perfect continuous tense
is:
| subject |
+ |
auxiliary verb |
+ |
auxiliary verb |
+ |
main verb |
| |
|
have
has |
|
been |
|
base + ing |
Here are some examples of the present perfect continuous
tense:
| |
subject |
auxiliary verb
|
|
auxiliary verb |
main verb |
|
| + |
I |
have |
|
been |
waiting |
for one hour. |
| + |
You |
have |
|
been |
talking |
too much. |
| - |
It |
has |
not |
been |
raining. |
|
| - |
We |
have |
not |
been |
playing |
football. |
| ? |
Have |
you |
|
been |
seeing |
her? |
| ? |
Have |
they |
|
been |
doing |
their homework? |
Contractions
When we use the present perfect continuous tense
in speaking, we often contract the subject and the first
auxiliary. We also sometimes do this in informal writing.
| I have been |
I've been |
| You have been |
You've been |
He has been
She has been
It has been
John has been
The car has been |
He's been
She's been
It's been
John's been
The car's been |
| We have been |
We've been |
| They have been |
They've been |
Here are some examples:
- I've been reading.
- The car's been giving trouble.
- We've been playing tennis for two hours.
How do we use the Present Perfect Continuous Tense?
This tense is called the present perfect continuous
tense. There is usually a connection with the present
or now. There are basically two uses for the present
perfect continuous tense:
We use the present perfect continuous tense to talk
about an action that started in the past and
stopped recently. There is usually a result now.
|
I'm tired because I've been
running. |
| past |
present |
future |
|
|
| Recent action. |
Result now. |
|
- I'm tired [now] because I've been
running.
- Why is the grass wet [now]? Has
it been raining?
- You don't understand [now] because
you haven't been listening.
We use the present perfect continuous tense to talk
about an action that started in the past and
is continuing now. This is often used with
for or
since.
|
I have been reading for 2 hours. |
| past |
present |
future |
|
|
| Action started in past. |
Action is continuing now. |
|
- I have been reading
for 2 hours. [I am still reading now.]
- We've been studying
since 9 o'clock. [We're still studying
now.]
- How long have you been learning
English? [You are still learning now.]
- We have not been smoking. [And
we are not smoking now.]
For and Since with Present Perfect Continuous Tense
We often use for and since with the
present perfect tense.
- We use for to talk about a period
of time—5 minutes, 2 weeks, 6 years.
- We use since to talk about a point
in past time—9 o'clock, 1st January, Monday.
| for |
since |
| a period of time |
a point in past time |
|
|
| 20 minutes |
6.15pm |
| three days |
Monday |
| 6 months |
January |
| 4 years |
1994 |
| 2 centuries |
1800 |
| a long time |
I left school |
| ever |
the beginning of time |
| etc |
etc |
Here are some examples:
- I have been studying for 3 hours.
- I have been watching TV since 7pm.
- Tara hasn't been feeling well for 2 weeks.
- Tara hasn't been visiting us since March.
- He has been playing football for a long
time.
- He has been living in Bangkok since he
left school.
 |
| For can be used with
all tenses. Since is usually
used with perfect tenses only. |
|
|
