Vivian Constanta

PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

A. FORM

Affirmative form / Negative form / Interrogative form
I
we
you have been working
they
he/she/ithas been working / I
we
you have not/ haven’t been working they
he/she/it has not/hasn’t been working / I
have we
youbeen working
they
hashe/she/itbeen working
1. I have studying for two hours this morning. / 1. She hasn’t been feeling well lately. / Questions and short answers:
have you been playing tennis?
Yes, I have.
No, I haven’t.
has he been playing tennis?
Yes, he has.
No, he hasn’t.
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

B.  USE

USE / EXAMPLES
when we talk about unfinished actions that show duration from the past until now
/ ·  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.
when we talk about actions that have happened recently or lately
/ ·  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.

0 I __haven’t seen__ (not see) you for ages!

1 Don’t 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 I’m totally exhausted! I ______(clean) the house all day but I still ______(not finish) the bathroom.

4 I’m afraid you won’t be able to leave for home earlier today, Ms Brown. It’s 5 o’clock 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 kettle’s ______boiled.

2 Have you ______eaten Chinese food?

3 Karen has been a teacher ______.

4 I don’t want to see that film. I’ve ______seen it three times.

5 She hasn’t 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.

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. I’ve been painting David’s bedroom. _____

3 Haven’t you finished yet? You’ve been typing that letter for 30 minutes. _____

4 I’ve made a cake for your birthday. Here it is. _____

5 She’s climbed to the top of Everest. _____

6 I have recorded the football match so you can see it later. _____

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