1. 01/12/2011
FORM
 Have/has been –ing is the present perfect continuous:
Present Perfect Continuous
(I have been doing)
I/we/they/you have (= I’ve, etc.)
doing, waiting,
been
he/she/it has (= he’s, etc.) playing, etc.
Present perfect continuous Use 1: Unfinished actions
 The present continuous describes what a person  The present perfect continuous talks
is doing.
about an action that started in the past and
 The present perfect continuous tells how long a
person has been doing that action.
continues in the present. The action is not
yet complete. It tells how long the action
Ex. Katie is delivering mail. has been in progress.
She has been delivering mail for two hours.
she has been working for the post office since 1997.
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2. 01/12/2011
 It began raining two hours ago
 It is STILL raining now
 It has been raining for two hours
.
Since & For Present perfect continuous
We often use for and since with the present
perfect continuous
 For shows an amount of time.
I
for three hours
You
for ten days have
We since 8:00.
 Every morning they meet in the same café. They’ve
been going there for years They been working
 Since tells when an action started He for two hours.
since 2:00 She has
since he came to the United States It
 Debbie is a very good tennis player. She’s been
playing since she was eight.
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3. 01/12/2011
How long questions How long have you (been)…?
 We use the present perfect continuous (especially with how
 How long has he been looking for a job? long, for, and since) with action verbs (learn, go, play, do,
wait, etc.)
 How long have you been playing tennis?
 How long have they been living in the city?  We use the present perfect simple with non-action verbs
(like, know, want, consider, prefer, etc)
 How long have you known your best friend?
 You can use either the present perfect
continuous or present perfect simple with
live and work:
 John has been living / has lived in Denver
for a long time.
 How long have you been working / have you
worked here?
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