Present Perfect Continuous

Present Perfect Continuous or Progressive

FORM

[has/have + been + present participle]

Examples:

• You have been waiting here for two hours.
• Have you been waiting here for two hours?
• You have not been waiting here for two hours.

Complete List of Present Perfect Continuous Forms

USE 1 Duration from the Past Until Now

We use the Present Perfect Continuous to show that something started in the past and has continued up until now. "For five minutes," "for two weeks," and "since Tuesday" are all durations which can be used with the Present Perfect Continuous.

Examples:

• They have been talking for the last hour.
• She has been working at that company for three years.
• What have you been doing for the last 30 minutes?
• James has been teaching at the university since June.
• We have been waiting here for over two hours!
• Why has Nancy not been taking her medicine for the last three days?

USE 2 Recently, Lately

You can also use the Present Perfect Continuous WITHOUT a duration such as "for two weeks." Without the duration, the tense has a more general meaning of "lately." We often use the words "lately" or "recently" to emphasize this meaning.

Examples:

• Recently, I have been feeling really tired.
• She has been watching too much television lately.
• Have you been exercising lately?
• Mary has been feeling a little depressed.
• Lisa has not been practicing her English.
• What have you been doing?

IMPORTANT

Remember that the Present Perfect Continuous has the meaning of "lately" or "recently." If you use the Present Perfect Continuous in a question such as "Have you been feeling alright?", it can suggest that the person looks sick or unhealthy. A question such as "Have you been smoking?" can suggest that you smell the smoke on the person. Using this tense in a question suggests you can see, smell, hear or feel the results of the action. It is possible to insult someone by using this tense incorrectly.

REMEMBER Non-Continuous Verbs/ Mixed Verbs

It is important to remember that Non-Continuous Verbs cannot be used in any continuous tenses. Also, certain non-continuous meanings for Mixed Verbs cannot be used in continuous tenses. Instead of using Present Perfect Continuous with these verbs, you must use Present Perfect.

Examples:

• Sam has been having his car for two years. Not Correct
• Sam has had his car for two years. Correct

ADVERB PLACEMENT

The examples below show the placement for grammar adverbs such as: always, only, never, ever, still, just, etc.

Examples:

• You have only been waiting here for one hour.
• Have you only been waiting here for one hour?

ACTIVE / PASSIVE

Examples:

• Recently, John has been doing the work. Active
• Recently, the work has been being done by John. Passive

NOTE: Present Perfect Continuous is less commonly used in its passive form.

More About Active / Passive Forms

Supongamos que has estado pintando tu habitación y, de pronto, te acuerdas de que tienes que comprar algo. Sales a la calle y te encuentras con un amigo que observa que tienes pintura en la cara. Tu amigo, un tanto extrañado, te pregunta: 

- ¿Qué has estado haciendo?

Tú le contestas: 

- He estado pintando mi habitación. 

El tiempo verbal que tu amigo y tú habéis utilizado en español se llama en inglés "Present Perfect Continuous" y se forma de la siguiente manera:

Afirmación:  Sujeto + have/has + been + verbo principal en -ing: I have been painting. He estado pintado.

Pregunta: Have/has + sujeto + been + verbo principal en -ing?

Negación: Sujeto+ have/have + not + been + verbo principal en -ing?

Más ejemplos: 

You have been reading. Tú has estado leyendo.
She has been working. Ella ha estado trabajando.
They have been singing. Ellos han estado cantando.
We have been running. Hemos estado corriendo.

¿Cuándo se usa?  Cuando hablamos de acciones que comenzaron en el pasado, tienen una conexión con el presente y queremos poner énfasis en que se prolongaron en el tiempo. Recuerda: las terminaciones -ing en los verbos indican "prolongación en el tiempo". 

¿Cómo se diferencia el Present Perfect Continuous del Present Perfect? En el Present Perfect también hablamos de acciones que comenzaron en el pasado y tienen una repercusión en el presente, pero no hacemos énfasis en que la acción se prolongó en el pasado. 

Compara:

- Yo he trabajado aquí. I have worked here.
- Yo he estado trabajando aquí. I have been working here. 

Hacer o no hacer énfasis en que la acción se prolongó en el tiempo es, en muchos casos, una decisión de la persona que habla. Ahora bien,si la acción no se ha completado (como en el ejemplo de pintar que he puesto arriba) optaremos por el present perfect continuous. 

1) Puede leer toda la teoría y hacer ejercicios aquí. Más teoría aquí.

2) Más teoría y ejemplos en este vídeo. 

Recuerda que siempre debes saber como suenan los verbos, así que pon cada uno de ellos en esta página y escucha varias veces su sonido.

3) Aprende cómo hacer las contracciones con have/has aquí. 

4) Vamos a practicar hasta agotarnos. 

Ejercicios Present Perfect Continuous

10 Questions   Translate into English. Please, use contractions when possible. Traduce al inglés. Utiliza contracciones cuando sea posible.

Más ejercicios en esta página de la extraordinara profesora Isabel Pérez.


5) Repite en voz alta los ejercicios del punto anterior. Recuerda: utiliza siempre howjsay para saber como suenan. Repite y repite las frases hasta que te canses.

6) Vamos a aprender vocabulario.

Relaciones
Restaurante
Tiendas

7) Escucha esta historia y apréndetela de memoria. Nota: Los audios de Super Easy Reading de rong-chang se pueden descargar introduciendo en el navegador o tu programa gestor de descargas direcciones como la siguiente:

http://www.rong-chang.com/supereasy/audio/se001.mp3

Cambiando el "001" por el número de la lección que desees. Como ves, siempre con números de 3 cifras, completando con ceros por la izquierda.

8) Escribe una historia utilizando 15 oraciones con el Present Perfect Continuous. Coge ejemplos de los ejercicios del punto 4) y cambia los verbos. Utiliza afirmaciones, preguntas y negaciones. Comprueba tus oraciones buscándolas en Google y comparándolas a frases de nativos.

FORMING THE PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

The present perfect continuous is made up of two elements: the present perfect of the verb 'to be' (have/has been), and the present participle of the main verb (base+ing)

Subject	has/have been	base+ing
She	has been	swimming

Affirmative: She has been / She's been running.
Negative: She hasn't been running.
Interrogative : Has she been running?
Interrogative negative: Hasn't she been running?

EXAMPLE: PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS, TO LIVE

Affirmative	Negative	Interrogative
I have been living	I haven't been living	Have I been living?
You have been living	You haven't been living	Have you been living?
He, she, it has been living	He hasn't been living	Has she been living?
We have been living	We haven't been living	Have we been living?
You have been living	You haven't been living	Have you been living?
They have been living	They haven't been living	Have they been living?

FUNCTIONS OF THE PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

The present perfect continuous refers to an unspecified time between 'before now' and 'now'. The speaker is thinking about something that started but perhaps did not finish in that period of time. He/she is interested in the process as well as the result, and this process may still be going on, or may have just finished.

ACTIONS THAT STARTED IN THE PAST AND CONTINUE IN THE PRESENT

She has been waiting for you all day (= and she's still waiting now).
I've been working on this report since eight o'clock this morning (= and I still haven't finished it).
They have been travelling since last October (= and they're not home yet).

ACTIONS THAT HAVE JUST FINISHED, BUT WE ARE INTERESTED IN THE RESULTS

She has been cooking since last night (= and the food on the table looks delicious).
It's been raining (= and the streets are still wet).
Someone's been eating my chips (= half of them have gone).

VERBS WITHOUT CONTINUOUS FORMS

With verbs not normally used in the continuous form, use the simple present perfect. For example: I've wanted to visit China for years.
She's known Robert since she was a child.
I've hated that music since I first heard it.
I've heard a lot about you recently.
We've understood everything.
we've heard this morning.

EXERCISES AND RELATED TOPICS

• Verb Tense Exercise  Present Perfect and Present Perfect Continuous
• Verb Tense Exercise  Present Perfect and Present Perfect Continuous
• Verb Tense Exercise  Present Continuous and Present Perfect Continuous
• Verb Tense Exercise  Present Continuous and Present Perfect Continuous
•