Present perfect continuous tense
| Structure of present perfect continuous | ||
| positive | negative | question |
| I / you / we / they have been working |
I / you / we / they haven’t been working |
Have I / you / we / they been working? |
| he / she / it has been working |
he / she / it hasn’t been working |
Has he / she / it been working? |
| Present perfect continuous – common mistakes | ||
| Common mistakes | Correct version | Why? |
| It has been rain heavily all day. | It has been raining heavily all day. | The structure of the present perfect continuous is have/has + been + verb + -ing. |
| I have sat here for two hours. | I have been sitting here for two hours. | Verbs such as sit, wait, speak, etc. (‘non-stative’ verbs) suggest continuity and so are mostly used in the continuous (-ing) form. |
| Which? I have worked here for five years. I have been working here for five years. |
When BOTH the simple and continuous forms are possible, native speakers prefer to use the continuous. |
Practise this grammar (intermediate level exercises)
Present perfect simple or continuous (exercise 1)
Present perfect simple or continuous (exercise 2)
karthik.k - September 16, 2015, 12:50 pm
Only few examble in this wed more example please
rosanna - September 16, 2015, 3:02 pm
I like the explanation of this site..the gammar rules are clear and they help me to improve my basic English.
Best regards
Rosanna
yodha - April 15, 2016, 10:27 am
i had been working here last two months
i have have been working here two months
which one right
Anonymous - April 21, 2016, 10:57 am
Both are wrong
I have worked here for the last two month.
I have been working here for two months.
Abdelkader benalia - February 24, 2021, 11:40 am
It’s means context of the phrase
Om_HAMODA - May 8, 2016, 11:49 pm
Thanks
S RADHA KRISHNAN - August 16, 2016, 3:27 am
What is the present perfect continuous for
They have been married for 20 years now
Stuart Cook - September 1, 2016, 5:49 pm
There isn’t a continuous form. ‘Be’ is a stative verb.
monica - June 29, 2020, 7:29 am
You have seen all new posts from the past 2 days..or you have seen all new posts for the past 2 days..why could we use ‘from’ in have forms..We use for and since for present perfect tense right
Abdelkader benalia - February 24, 2021, 11:42 am
Context of the sentence