Present Perfect Continuous

By David Wood | February 23, 2012

is used

  1. for an activity that has just stopped or continued until very recently
  2. for actions which have been repeated over a period of time.

1

  • I’ve been cooking all morning (= I am still cooking now, or have only just stopped)
  • You haven’t even started your homework. What have you been doing? (= even now you have not done any schoolwork)
  • He’s been mending the fence for weeks. (= the work has continued and has not stopped yet – or may have just stopped.)
  • It has been snowing since breakfast.(= It started snowing at breakfast time, and it is still snowing now.)
  • I’ve been waiting for someone like you all my life. (and now at last you’ve arrived and I can stop waiting!)

2

  • He’s been planning a trip to Nepal since he was in his twenties.
  • They’ve been playing hockey for the last ten years.

    Create sentences in the present perfect continuous with the words in brackets:

     

    Go to grammar bank

    Home

1. [Text]

John looks tired. (work / too hard)

Answers for Quiz [1].

  • 1. He’s been working too hard. (correct)

2. [Text]

Bridget started learning Arabic a couple of years ago. (study / two years)

Answers for Quiz [2].

  • 1. She’s been studying Arabic for two years. (correct)

3. [Text]

I will be leaving for Indonesia shortly. (plan/go there/last spring)

Answers for Quiz [3].

  • 1. I’ve been planning to go there since last spring. (correct)

4. [Text]

I thought you lived in the west of Ireland? (no /we live /Dublin / several years)

Answers for Quiz [4].

  • 1. No, we’ve been living in Dublin for several years. (correct)
Posted in Grammar and Usage and tagged ,