The 12 Basic English Tenses:Present Perfect Continuous

Present Perfect Continuous

The Present Perfect Continuous uses two auxiliary verbs together with a main verb.

In this lesson we look at the structure and use of the Present Perfect Continuous tense, as well as the use of for and since,

How do we make the Present Perfect Continuous tense?

The structure of the Present Perfect Continuous tense is:

subject	+	auxiliary have	+	auxiliary be	+	main verb
		conjugated in Present Simple		past participle
		have, has		been		present participle

The first auxiliary (have) is conjugated in the Present Simple: have, has

The second auxiliary (be) is invariable in past participle form: been

The main verb is invariable in present participle form: -ing

For negative sentences we insert not after the first auxiliary verb.

For question sentences, we exchange the subject and first auxiliary verb.

Look at these example sentences with 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?

Contraction with Present Perfect Continuous

When we use the Present Perfect Continuous tense in speaking, we often contract the subject and the first auxiliary verb. 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

• I've been reading.
• Jenny's been helping us recently.

In negative sentences, we may contract the first auxiliary verb and "not":

• I haven't been playing tennis.
• It hasn't been snowing.

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.

We use the Present Perfect Continuous to talk about:

• past action recently-stopped
• past action still-continuing

Present Perfect Continuous for past action just stopped

We use the Present Perfect Continuous tense to talk about 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.

Present Perfect Continuous for past action continuing now

We use the Present Perfect Continuous tense to talk about 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 perfect tenses:

• We use for to talk about a period of time: three hours, two months, one decade
• 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
- - - - - - - - - - - -	- • - - - - - - - - - -
30 minutes	10.00am
four days	Friday
3 months	March
2 years	2010
3 centuries	1700
ages	I left school
ever	the beginning of time
etc	etc

Look at these example sentences using for and since with the Present Perfect Continuous tense:

• I have been studying for three hours.
• I have been watching TV since 7pm.
• Tara hasn't been feeling well for two 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.