What is Present Perfect Continuous Tense, rules and examples

What is Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Present perfect continuous tense is used to express an action that started in the past and continued till present. A time reference is found in these kind of sentences like “since 2000”, “for 2 hours”. This time reference specifies that the task has been continued from the past till now. Such time references can be seen in present perfect continuous tense. For Example if a person says,” I have been waiting here for three hours”. It means that the person is waiting for last three hours and he is still waiting. It identifies that he started waiting in the past and still waiting.

Present Perfect continuous Tense is made up of three main parts auxiliary verb has/ have , auxiliary verb been and 1st  form of base verb+ ing.

Present Perfect continuous Tense= Subject +has/have (Helping Verb) + been (Auxiliary verb) + 1st Verb+

ing+ Object.

Has –> (He, She, It, any Name, Singular noun)

Have –> (I, We, They, You, Plural Noun)

Examples of Present Perfect continuous Tense with structure

Positive Sentence

In positive sentences, we simply make the sentences according to Present Perfect continuous Tense rules.

For Example

• He has been walking for two days.
• She has been doing this job since 4 o’clock.
• I have been playing for three hours.
• Steve has been feeling little stressed.
• You have been teaching me the lesson since morning.

Negative Sentences in the Present Perfect Continuous Tense

When we make negative sentences, we normally use not after auxiliary verbs has/have.

Negative Simple Present tense = Subject +has/have (Helping Verb) + not+ been (Auxiliary verb) + 1stVerb+ ing+ Object.

For example

• I have been not attending his class since Monday.
• Leena has not been practicing her dance.
• Mark has not been using too much computer lately.
• Recently I have not been feeling bored.

Yes/No Questions in the Present Perfect Continuous Tense

When you make any question that can be answered as yes or no, then you should start it with auxiliary verb followed by the subject, been and 1st form+ ing.

Yes/No Sentences = has/have + Subject +been+ 1st Verb+ ing+ Object?

For example

• Have you been watching this serial since morning?
• Has Leena been washed her clothes for four hours?
• Have you been solving all the questions since 3 p.m.?
• Has Steve been reading this book for 3 hours?

Wh- Questions in the Present Perfect Continuous Tense

When you make any question that starts with wh word, then you should start it from wh word  and then add auxiliary verb, after that subject followed by been and 1st form+ ing..

Wh words are when, why, who, where, whom, how, what, how much, how many.

WH Sentences = Wh word + has/have + Subject + been+1st Verb + Ing + Object?

For example

• Which technology has she been working, recently?
• Where have you been visiting since afternoon?
• Why has she been sending me these gifts?
• What have you been doing with this book?

Tag Questions in the Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Tag questions are those questions which are answered at the end of the sentence. They can be simply made by adding auxiliary verbs.

For examples

• I have been visiting the market, have you not been?
• She has been working, has she not been?

You can also use tag questions in positive sentences

• She has not been reading news paper, has she been?
• Those girls has not been playing basketball, have they been?

Rules of Present Perfect tense

• Action started in past and still ongoing
• Since when and for how long
• Recently and lately
• Since and for

Action started in past and still ongoing

Any action which was started in the past and still in progress, then for this kind of sentences we use present perfect continuous tense.

For example

• He has been still working.
• Why has she been wasting my time?
• What have you been thinking about me?

Since when and for how long

When we have “since when” and “for how long” words in the begging of the sentences then present perfect continuous tense is used.

For example

• Since when has she been living in this house?
• For how long have you been waiting for her?
• Since when have you been staying in hotel room?

Recently and lately

When we have “Recently” and “Lately” words in the sentences then present perfect continuous tense is used.

For example

• Recently, I have been visiting to Canada.
• She has been working too much lately.

Since and for

When we have “Since” and “For” words in the sentences then present perfect continuous tense is used.

For example

• It has been raining for five days.
• I have been sleeping since 7 O’clock.
• Steve has been climbing up this tree for over 3 hours.

More Examples to unfold some other aspects of Present Perfect Continuous Tense

• Why have you not been doing anything for 3 months?
• I have not been working with this company since June 2003.
• For how long have you been wasting your time just like this?
• Since when has she been teaching him?

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