Present Perfect Continuous Tense

In the Present Perfect Continuous tense, the action has been taking place for some time and is still ongoing.The duration for which the action has been going on is usually mentioned in the present perfect continuous tense.

POSITIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	HAVE BEEN/ HAS BEEN	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	have been	waiting	for an hour.
You	have been	waiting	for an hour.
He	has been	waiting	for an hour.
Mohan	has been	waiting	for an hour.
The boy	has been	waiting	for an hour.
She	has been	waiting	for an hour.
Pooja	has been	waiting	for an hour.
The girl	has been	waiting	for an hour.
We	have been	waiting	for an hour.
You	have been	waiting	for an hour.
They	have been	waiting	for an hour.
The children	have been	waiting	for an hour.

Notice that we use

‘have been’ with the subjects ‘I’, ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’

‘has been’ with the subjects ‘He’ and ‘She’

The verb form remains the same for all subjects.

NEGATIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	HAVE NOT BEEN / HAS NOT BEEN	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	have not been	living	in Mumbai since March.
You	have not been	living	in Mumbai since March.
He	has not been	living	in Mumbai since March.
Mohan	has not been	living	in Mumbai since March.
The boy	has not been	living	in Mumbai since March.
She	has not been	living	in Mumbai since March.
Pooja	has not been	living	in Mumbai since March.
The girl	has not been	living	in Mumbai since March.
We	have not been	living	in Mumbai since March.
You	have not been	living	in Mumbai since March.
They	have not been	living	in Mumbai since March.
The children	have not been	living	in Mumbai since March.

Notice that we use

‘have not been’ with the subjects ‘I’, ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’

‘has not been’ with the subjects ‘He’ and ‘She’

The verb form remains the same for all subjects.

INTERROGATIVE STATEMENTS / QUESTIONS

HAVE / HAS	SUBJECT	BEEN	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
Have	I	been	working	hard for the last three days?
Have	you	been	working	hard for the last three days?
Has	he	been	working	hard for the last three days?
Has	Mohan	been	working	hard for the last three days?
Has	the boy	been	working	hard for the last three days?
Has	she	been	working	hard for the last three days?
Has	Pooja	been	working	hard for the last three days?
Has	the girl	been	working	hard for the last three days?
Have	we	been	working	hard for the last three days?
Have	you	been	working	hard for the last three days?
Have	they	been	working	hard for the last three days?
Have	the men	been	working	hard for the last three days?

Notice that we use

‘have’ with the subjects ‘I’, ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’

‘has’ with the subjects ‘He’ and ‘She’

The verb form remains the same for all subjects.

What is Present Perfect Continuous Tense?

PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

USE: We use PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS to talk about:

1) Something which started in the past and has been in progress up to the present.

Example:

- We have been working all day.

- They have been waiting for an hours.

- John has been living in Cambodia for over two years now.

2) An action has been in progress up to the recent past, especially when the action has results in the present.

Example:

- It’s been raining.

- Nancy looks well. She has been exercising a lot to lose weight.

- “Haven’t seen anything of Jimy for a while”. “No, he has been working in USA”.

3) Repeated actions or situations in a period up to the present or the recent past.

Example:

- I have been driving license for a year.

- They have been living in China for 5 years.

- Dany has been working NIS for seven months.

FORMULA

Positive Sentence:

Subject + have/has + been + verb-ing + obj/comp

Example:

- He has been watching TV all day.

- I have been looking for you for an hour.

- We have been studying English since 2008.

Negative Sentence:

Sub + have/has + not + been + verb-ing + obj/Comp

Example:

- Nara has not been feeling very well recently.

- They have not been working hard these days.

- We have not been finding out our money.

Question:

Have/Has + sub + been + verb-ing + obj/comp ?

Example:

- How long has it been snowing?

- How long have you living in Cambodia?

- What have you been doing at the moment?

Related page

What is Tense? Definition of Tense.

What is the type of tense?

What Is the Past Tense?

What Is the Present Tense?

What is the Future Tense?

Structure of All Tense

Simple Present Tense

Present Continuous Tense

Present Perfect Tense

Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Simple Past Tense

Past Continuous Tense

Past Perfect Tense

Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Simple Future Tense

Future Continuous Tense

Future Perfect Tense

Future Perfect Continuous Tense

All Tense with example

Table of English Tenses with example

TENSE CHART