The Present Perfect Continuous Tense is a verb tense that is used to talk about an action that started in the past and has been going on for some time up to the present. It is formed with the auxiliary verb have or has been, and the present participle of the main verb. For example, “I have been working on this project for two weeks.”
The present perfect continuous tense can be used in a variety of situations, but some of the most common uses include:
- To talk about an action that has been happening for an unspecified period of time. For example, “I have been learning English for five years.”
- To talk about an action that started in the past and is still going on now. For example, “I have been waiting for you for an hour.”
- To talk about an action that has been happening repeatedly over a period of time. For example, “I have been getting up early every morning this week.”
The present perfect continuous tense should not be used to talk about actions that happened entirely in the past and have no connection to the present. For example, “I have been working on this project for two weeks” would be incorrect if you worked on the project two weeks ago but are not currently working on it.
Here are some examples of the present perfect continuous tense in action:
- I have been working on this project for two weeks.
- She has been talking on the phone for an hour.
- We have been waiting for you for a long time.
- They have been playing basketball all afternoon.
- I have been feeling sick for a few days.
- Have you been watching the news lately?