I've been writing this ESL blog since September 2015, but haven't done a post on the present perfect continuous until today😆.
The Basics
Grammar
Positive and Negative
I, you, we, they
he, she, it
|
have / haven’t
‘ve /’ve not
has / hasn’t
‘s / ‘s not |
been
|
verb + ing
|
Examples: You’ve been eating chocolate. I’ve not been sleeping well.
Questions
Have
Has
|
I, you, we, they
he, she, it
|
been
|
verb + ing?
|
Examples: Have you been drinking? Has Emily been seeing her ex-
(chart from Exam English)
Usage
- actions that started in the past and are still happening now.
I've been taking IBM's data courses for two years now/ since 2018
- an action/event that has just finished and the results/effects can be seen.
Claire has been making a lot more sales, so her bonus checks are much bigger these days.
REMEMBER:
The present perfect continuous CANNOT be used with state verbs (be, have, want, etc).
- Kenji
has been havingevery version of the iPhone for 12 years.👎 - Kenji has had every version of the iPhone for 12 years. 👏
The present perfect simple is what you need for have.
Exercises
Complete the sentences with the correct form of the present perfect continuous. Watch out for negatives and phrasal verbs.
1/
Bianca Andresscu ___ _____ _______ tennis since she was seven. (play)
2/
Warren _____ ____ ______ well in school this year.
3/
I ____ _____ _______________ to this trip to Mexico for ages. I need a vacation. (look forward)
4/
A: Is that Vanilla Ice?!
B: Yes. He ____ ____ _________ in a lot of TV ads recently. (appear)
5/
A: Wow! I ____ ____ __________ for this comic book since the fourth grade. (search)
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