THE PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

The Present Perfect Continuous Tense refers to an action that begins in the past and it continues in the present but we cannot expect its completion.

STRUCTURE:

Subject + have / has + been +V4 + Rest of the sentence.

MAKING POSITIVE SENTENCES
Subject	Helping Verb	Be form	Main Verb	Rest of the sentence
I	have	been	going	to school.
We	have	been	going	to school.
You	have	been	going	to school.
He	has	been	going	to school.
She	has	been	going	to school.
It	has	been	going	to school.
Raju	has	been	going	to school.
They	have	been	going	to school.
Raju and Rani	have	been	going	to school.
MAKING NEGATIVE SENTENCES
Subject	Helping Verb	Adverb	Be form	Main Verb	Rest of the sentence
I	have	not	been	going	to school.
We	have	not	been	going	to school.
You	have	not	been	going	to school.
He	has	not	been	going	to school.
She	has	not	been	going	to school.
It	has	not	been	going	to school.
Raju	has	not	been	going	to school.
They	have	not	been	going	to school.
Raju and Rani	have	not	been	going	to school.
MAKING POSITIVE INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES
Helping Verb	Subject	Be form	Main Verb	Rest of the sentence
Have	I	been	going	to school?
Have	we	been	going	to school?
Have	you	been	going	to school?
Has	he	been	going	to school?
Has	she	been	going	to school?
Has	it	been	going	to school?
Has	Raju	been	going	to school?
Have	they	been	going	to school?
Have	Raju and Rani	been	going	to school?
MAKING NEGATIVE INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES
Helping Verb	Subject	Adverb	Be form	Main Verb	Rest of the sentence
Have	I	not	been	going	to school?
Have	we	not	been	going	to school?
Have	you	not	been	going	to school?
Has	he	not	been	going	to school?
Has	she	not	been	going	to school?
Has	it	not	been	going	to school?
Has	Raju	not	been	going	to school?
Have	they	not	been	going	to school?
Have	Raju and Rani	not	been	going	to school?

USAGE:

We express the duration of time with 'for' and point of time with 'since' :

Eg:

Raju has been standing here for ten minutes.

Raju has been standing here since seven o'clock.

It is advisable to use verbs that show prolonged actions:

Eg:

( rest, wait, sit, lie, live, work, stay, read, etc )

I have been waiting for the Minister's appointment since morning.

In some situations without mentioning since or for we just speak about the present situation:

Eg:

Look! They have been escaping from there.

Watch out! The pipe has been leaking under your foot.

We should not use state verbs with the Present Perfect Continuous Tense:

Eg:

I have been seeing the moving deer within the deep forest. (incorrect)

I see a moving deer within the deep forest. (correct)

For repeated and continuous actions :

Eg:

My children have been irritating me all day.

People have been enquiring about admissions all year.

How long have you been staying here? (since when)

How long are you staying here? (until when)

For shorter actions, we take the Present Perfect Tense and longer-lasting actions Present Perfect Continuous Tense:

Eg:

I have been discharging my duties well recently.

I have discharged my duties well for years.

For expressing quantity and frequency in a sentence we use the Present Perfect Tense and not the Present: Perfect Continuous Tense:

Eg:

We have filled two pails of water since morning. (correct)

We have been filling two pails of water since morning. (incorrect)

We have visited the temple twice.(correct)

We have been visiting the temple twice.(incorrect)

For expressing time duration we take the Present Perfect Tense however the same idea can be expressed in the Present Continuous Tense without time duration:

Eg:

We have been staying for him since morning. (correct)

We are staying with him since morning. (incorrect)

We should take the Present Perfect Tense to express activities with connection to several times instead of the Present Perfect Continuous Tense:

She has participated in National Games at least 12 times so far. (correct)

She has been participating in National Games at least 12 times. (incorrect)

In the Present Perfect Continuous Tense we prefer the ongoing action along with time duration while in the Present Continuous Tense we only prefer the ongoing action, but not the time duration to which we are witness:

Eg:

Don't try to catch the bus. It is already moving fast. (present continuous)

It has been sweating miserably for an hour as there are no fans in the room. (present perfect continuous tense)

While should be used with the present perfect continuous tense:

Eg:

I have been working here while I complete my M.A.  (correct)

I have worked here while I complete my M.A. (incorrect)

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