The Present Perfect Continuous(Progressive)

The present Perfect Continuous 

Use:

1-Actions that started in the past and continue to the present:

For longer actions that started in the past and continue to the present:

Ex: Mark has been working in Canada for Five years.

2-Actions that have recently stopped :

For longer actions that have recently finished, but have a result in the present:

Ex: Today I have been walking around the garden area of the city, and I’m both exhausted and exhilarated by the experience.

3-Temporaire actions and situations :

For actions that happened repeatedly in the past and till happen in the present: EX: I have been coming to the UK for nearly 20 years.

Tips:

We often use these words with the present perfect continuous: for, since, just, yet, already, still, ever, never, recently, lately, how long, all day…

For and Since

Since and for are very common time expressions used with the Present Perfect Continuous.

We use for with a period of time, for example:

EX: I have been living here for 5 years.

When talking about a starting point, we use since, for example:

Ex: I have been living here since 1990.

Form:

Subject	Positive sentences	Negative sentences	Questions
I/you/we/they	I have been sleeping.	I have not been sleeping.	Have I been sleeping ?
He/She/it	She has been sleeping.	She has not been sleeping.	Has she been sleeping?

Exceptions in spelling:

Exceptions in spelling when adding ing Example final e is dropped (but: ee is not changed) come – coming (but: agree – agreeing) after a short, stressed vowel, the final consonant is doubled sit – sitting l as final consonant after a vowel is doubled (in British English)  travel – traveling final ie becomes y lie – lying

Check your understanding:

The Present Perfect Continuous Exercice