How to Use Present Perfect Continuous Tense + Example Sentence

What is the Present Perfect Continuous tense?

Form - [has / have been + verb -ing]

e.g. Tina has been practising the piano all afternoon.

When do we use the Present Perfect Continuous tense?

We use the Present Perfect Continuous for:

i) past action or situation that is still going on

ii) past action or situation that's just ended

iii) repeated past action or situation with continued activity

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How to use the Present Perfect Continuous - Example Sentence

1. James has been learning Japanese for 3 years.

2. Chris has been running errands all morning.

3. I've been chatting to my neighbour for the past 30 minutes.

4. How long has the taxi been waiting?

5. Lisa hasn't been doing her homework at all.

6. Has your dad been taking golf lessons?

7. What has she been doing all day? The kitchen is in a big mess now.

   
   

🎯Note!

Time Expressions used with Present Perfect Continuous:

- recently,

- lately,

- since December,

- for the past few days etc.

How to form the Present Perfect Continuous tense

- positive, negative, yes/no Question, wh-Question, short answers

🔹Present Perfect Continuous form - positive, short form

Form: [have / has + been + verb-ing]

e.g. sing

• I / you / we / they have been /'ve been singing

• he / she /it has been /'s been singing

  
  

🔹Present Perfect Continuous form - negative, short form

Form: [have not / has not + been + verb-ing]

• ​I / you / we / they have not been / haven't been singing

• he / she / it has not been / hasn't been singing

  
  

  
  

🔹Present Perfect Continuous tense (wh-Question)

Form: [Wh-Q + have + subject + been + verb -ing form]

e.g.

- What have you been ...?

- How long has he been ...?

- Why haven't they been ...?

- Who has been ...?

🔹Present Perfect Continuous form - (Yes/No Questions)

Form: [Have + subject + been + verb-ing...?]

• Have ​I / you /we / they been singing....?

• Has ​ he /she / it been singing...?

🔹Present Perfect Continuous form - Short Answers (short form)

• Yes, I / you / we / they have.

• Yes, ​ he /she /it has.

• No, I / you /we / they ​ have not / haven't.

• No, ​ he /she / it has not /hasn't.

🎬 Quick Recap!

Use the Present Perfect Continuous for the following situations:

✔️ (past action or situation that is still going on)

e.g. He's been playing the piano all day.

✔️ (past action or situation that's just ended)

e.g. Oh, there you are. I've been waiting for you for about an hour.

✔️(repeated past action or situation with continued activity)

e.g. My son's been having nightmares.

🎯Grammar Check!

Compare - Present Perfect Simple vs Present Perfect Continuous Tense

👉Present Perfect Simple: Form: [has / have + verb (past participle]

👉Present Perfect Continuous: Form: [​has / have + been + verb-ing form]

🗣️Present Perfect Continuous Tense Practice

🎯Note:

- Look out for the different types of Tenses in the following example. In real life conversation we'll need to use different tenses as we speak.

While reading, try to spot examples of:

• Present Simple

• Past Simple

• Present Perfect Simple

• Future tense with:

• 'plan + to'

• 'be going to'

  
  

📒Tess's Diary / Journal

Tess is on a week's break from work.

So far, she's been having a great time at her Auntie Ruth's place in the suburbs.

📆My Diary / Journal Entry - Day 4

✍🏻Dear Journal,

🧘🏻‍♀️I've been taking it easy and catching up on lots of reading. Yesterday was a lovely day so we had a picnic🧺 at a nearby park.

🧓Auntie Ruth made some Japanese 🍙rice balls and miso soup for our lunch!

It was so good. 🇯🇵 She has been learning Japanese for about 3 years now. 🎏So she's very much into Japanese culture. Recently, she's been taking some 🍱Japanese cooking workshops at the local community centre. 🧑‍🍳And she's been trying out new recipes she's just learnt.

🍡For the past few days I've been enjoying many kinds of matcha flavoured Japanese sweets. ☕️🍵I've always liked my coffee with milk. Auntie Ruth made me a morning cup of coffee with matcha. Now I'm hooked.

🎶Later this afternoon we plan to visit an unusual music box museum. 🚘It's about a 40 minute drive away in the city centre. I know we're going to have a wonderful time.

Ok, I'll stop here. 👴Uncle Brian has been calling out for me to go in for coffee and snacks.:-)

🎯Vocabulary Check!

Word/ Meaning

1. into (preposition) = be interested in

e.g. I'm into rock music.

2. community centre (noun)

= a place where people can meet to learn, take courses or classes etc.

3. hooked (adjective - informal)

= can't stop because you enjoyed it so much

e.g. I'm hooked on coffee.

🎯TIP! How to Learn, Practise & Improve Your Grammar

• 💭Be creative.

• 🗣️Make & practise as many sentences & times as you can.

• ✍🏻Use the sentence pattern to make your own sentences.

• 📒Write them down in your notebook.

  
  

📣Your Grammar Speaking Practice

🎬Let's Recap!

We use the Present Perfect Continuous for the following:

• past action or situation that is still going on

• past action or situation that's just ended

• repeated past action or situation with continued activity

1. ''Why are your shoes all covered in mud?"

   e.g. - I've been playing football in the rain.

   
   

2. "You didn't answer your phone."

   Answer: I ____________________ to call you all morning. (try)

   
   

3. "You're late, again."

   Answer: I know. My 4 year-old son ____________________ (not sleep) well these past few nights.

   
   

4. "Dinner's not ready yet."

   Answer: Mum  ____________________ (cook) since 3 this afternoon.

   
   

🎯English Learning Tip!

How to Learn, Practise & Improve English Grammar

✔️Read & Say your sentences out loud.

✔️Look up & repeat the sentence. Don't look at the text.

✔️Repeat.

🎯Need More Practice?

🎥 Related Videos: YouTube Channel Playlist

🔗Learn Grammar Through Engaging Stories https://tinyurl.com/bvwvckfu

🔗Quick and Easy Vocabulary https://tinyurl.com/44chnrb9

🔗Learn Vocabulary Through Fun Stories https://tinyurl.com/567brdfr

📖 Prefer Reading?

🔗For more related Perfect tenses check out the links below ⬇️

Thanks so much for reading & Happy speaking!

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