PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

PRESENT PERFECT
CONTINUOUS TENSE







1.1 Form Of Present Perfect Tense

a) Affirmative (Positive) Sentences
Have been/ Has been + VING

HE SHE IT	has been eating hamburger has been writting the letter
I YOU WE THEY	have been eating hamburger have been writting the letter

In the positive sentence form of the Present Perfect
Continuous Tense, helping verbs have been / has been
+ VING are used after the subject.

• I have been watching TV since seven o’clock.
• They have been playing football since morning.
• Jim has been eating lunch for two hours.
• I have been living in this city for 20 years.
• My father has been teaching for 30 years.
• It has been snowing all day. I wonder when it will
stop.


b) Negative Sentences

HE SHE IT	has not been eating hamburger hasn’t been writting the letter
I YOU WE THEY	have not been eating hamburger haven’t been writting the letter

In the negative form of Present Perfect Continuous
Tense, not is simply added to the sentence after the
helping verbs has been / have been.


• Mary hasn’t been working since afternoon.
• They haven’t been living here since 1975.


c) Question Sentences

Has	he she it	been eating hamburger? been writting the letter?
Have	we you they	been eating hamburger? been writting the letter?

In question sentences, the helping verbs have / has
are used in the beginning of the sentences.
BEEN + VING is used after the subject.

• Have you been running for two hours?
• How long have you been working in this company?
• Has she been studying?
• What has your mother been doing since morning?


1.2 Use Of Present Perfect Continuous Tense

a) The Present Perfect Continuous Tense indicates
the duration of an activity that began in the past
and continues to the present. When the tense has
this meaning, it is used with time words such as
since, for, all morning, all day, all week, etc.

• I have been living in Ankara for 10 years.
• It has been raining all day.
• I have been working on this project for more than
a year.
• The children have been playing in the garden since
morning.
• How long has she been driving? She looks tired.


b) When the present perfect continuous tense is used
without any specific mention of time, it indicates a
general activity in progress recently, lately.

• My wife has been thinking about changing her car.
• The students have been studying hard. The final
exams start next week.
• Tom’s clothes look very dirty. He has been
painting the house.



1.3 Present Continuous Vs. Present Perfect
Continuous

Present Continuous tense expresses an activity
happening at the moment of speaking. It never
indicates the duration activity.

CORRECT: I am running now.
CORRECT : She is sleeping now.
INCORRECT: I am running for 2 hours.
INCORRECT: She is sleeping since 8:00 o’clock

Present perfect tense,on the other hand, is used to
express duration of an activity happening . It
mostly answers the question HOW OFTEN?

• I have been running for two hours. I am very tired
now.
• She has been sleeping since 8:00. She worked hard
yesterday

1.4 Present Perfect Continuous Vs. Present
Perfect

While the present perfect simple is used to express
completed actions and their results at present,
present perfect continuous tense is most commonly
used to indicate the duration of an activity. In
other words, if it is important to express that the
activity is completed, Present Perfect Simple is
used; if it is important to express the duration and
the activity itself, Present Perfect Continuous
Tense is used.

• I have cleaned the room. It’s clear now.
• I have been cleaning the room since morning.
• I have read 50 pages of this novel. It’s very
exciting.
• I have been reading this novel for a week. It’s
very exciting.

With certain verbs such as live, work, and teach,
there is little or no difference in meaning between
the two tenses when since or for is used


• I have lived here since 1990. or I have ben living
here since 1990.
• She has worked at the same company for five years.
/ She has been working at the same company for five
years.


Be careful about the non-progressive verbs, which
cannot be used in continuous tenses.