Present Perfect Continuous

 

The Present Perfect Continuous or Progressive is formed with the elements of the Perfect tenses (verb have) and Continuous tenses (verb be and Gerund in the main verb) and it describes a recent action which started in the past but it didn´t finish which is the difference with the Present Perfect Simple.

The pattern uses then the elements necessary in the Present Perfect and Continuous  tenses:

has (3^rd person singular he/ she / it) / have (rest) + been + V-ing (Gerund)

 

As in the Present Perfect Simple we also use prepositions “for” and “since” to point out to a quantity of time (minutes, days, weeks, months, years, centuries, etc.) or any date of time or specific event in the past till the present respectively.

 

The negative form just add particle “not” after the auxiliary verb “has/have” and the interrogative form inverts the order (has/have + subject + been+ V-ing) in which is obligatory to respond in a short answer (Yes/No, subject + has/have or negative form as hasn´t/haven´t) because they are alternative questions.

 

Although we can also add at the beginning of the interrogative sentence any interrogative pronoun if we are searching for more information and details.

Examples:

+I have been listening him.

- I have not been working for twelve years.

+You have been gossiping about us since we.

-You have not been studying enough.

Have you been listening music since three o´clock?

 Yes, I have. No, I haven´t. Yes, we have. No, we haven´t.

+He has been watching them for three hours.

-He has not been running in the race.

Has he/ she / it been flying to that city recently?

Yes, he/she/it has. No, he/she/it hasn´t.

+She has been dancing in the ball since midnight.

-She hasn´t been shouting them lately.

Where has she been living since last year?

+We have been rubbing the blackboard.

-We have not been jogging at dawn.

How long have we been paying taxes?

+They´ve been patting the puppies.

-They haven´t been fulfilling their goals.

Why haven´t they been fulfilling their goals?

What have you been doing today?

We have been sunbathing in the beach.

I have been swimming in the sea for two hours.