Vivian Constanta

PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

A. FORM

Affirmative form Negative form Interrogative form

I I I
we we have we
you have been working you have not/ havent been working you been working
they they they

he/she/it has been working
1. I have studying for two
hours this morning.
he/she/it has not/hasnt been working
1. She hasnt been feeling well lately.
has he/she/it been working
Questions and short
answers:
have you been playing tennis?

Yes, I have.
No, I havent.

has he been playing tennis?

Yes, he has.
No, he hasnt.
Notes on spelling:

If the verb ends in ie we change it to y and then add -ing:

lie - lying

If the verb ends in -e we delete the -e and add -ing:

dive - diving

If the verb ends in a consonant we double it and then add -ing:

put - putting

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B. USE

USE
when we talk about unfinished actions that
show duration from the past until now
when we talk about actions that have happened
recently or lately
EXAMPLES
They have been talking for the last hour.
We have been waiting here for over two
hours!
James has been teaching at the university
since June.
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.

C. TIME EXPRESSIONS/ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY

S + Verb + time expression

for two hours/days, all morning/day/evening/night, since, lately, recently

e.g. We have been watching TV all night.

D. PRACTICE

2. Form sentences with the Present Perfect Simple or Continuous.

1. Mary/learn/English/two years ___________________________

2. We /have/this/car/1998 _______________________________

3. Amy and Adam/be/married/20 years ______________________

4. My father/work/for this company/ten years ________________

5. It/rain/past two days _________________________________

6. I/ never see/man/before _______________________________

7. She/just/eat lunch ___________________________________

8. We/do/this exercise for 3 hours and we/finish yet. ___________

2. Put the verbs in brackets into the Present Perfect Simple or the Present
Perfect Continuous.
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0 I __havent seen__ (not see) you for ages!

1 Dont tell me you are too busy to give me a hand with the cooking. You
________________ (play) computer games for the last two hours.

2 We are very proud of our son. He ________________ (break) the school

high jump record again.

3 Im totally exhausted! I ________________ (clean) the house all day but I

still ________________ (not finish) the bathroom.

4 Im afraid you wont be able to leave for home earlier today, Ms Brown. Its 5
oclock and you ________________ (write) only half of the proposal so far.

5 Diane Porter is a well-known applied linguist. Recently she

________________ (do) research on the effects of students age on second
language learning.

3. Complete the sentences using the correct time expressions below.

already ever all her life for

yet just never

1 Would you like a cup of tea? The kettles _____________________ boiled.

2 Have you _____________________ eaten Chinese food?
3 Karen has been a teacher _____________________.
4 I dont want to see that film. Ive _________________ seen it three times.
5 She hasnt printed out her homework _____________________.
6 Tom hates travelling. He has _____________________ travelled abroad.
7 Leo and Paula have been married __________________ twenty-five years.
4. Read the rules for using the Present Perfect Simple and Present Perfect
Continuous in the box. Match them to the sentences below. Write the
correct letter after the sentence.

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A Use the Present Perfect Continuous for activities that

are still going on now (unfinished actions).

B Use the Present Perfect Continuous for activities

that have some consequences in the present

C Use the Present Perfect Simple for achievements.

D Use the Present Perfect Simple for finished actions.

0 Brazil has won the World Cup four times. __C__

1 The snow has frozen into ice. _____
2 Sorry about my hair. Ive been painting Davids bedroom. _____
3 Havent you finished yet? Youve been typing that letter for 30 minutes.
_____
4 Ive made a cake for your birthday. Here it is. _____
5 Shes climbed to the top of Everest. _____
6 I have recorded the football match so you can see it later. _____