The Perfect Continuous Form. The Present Perfect Continuous. The Past Perfect Continuous. The Futurе Perfect Continuous. The Future Perfect Continuous in the Past.

Present Perfect Continuous

Basic form

Subject + HAS/HAVE + BEEN + Verb (continuous form)

Use

1. Actions that started in the past and continue in the present
2. Actions that have recently stopped
3. Temporary actions and situations

Use 1: Continuation in the Present 

We use the Present Perfect Continuous to show that something started in the past and continues in the present.

• He has been painting the house for 5 hours. He's still painting it
• I have been working as a fireman since 1973. I still work as a fireman

Use 2: Past actions recently stopped 

Use this tense also to talk about actions that began in the past and have recently stopped.

• I have been waiting for you for half an hour! I'm not waiting anymore because you have come
• Look at her eyes! I'm sure she has been crying. She stopped crying when she saw them

Use 3: Temporary Actions and Situations 

We use this tense when an action or situation is temporary.

• I have been living in Boston for two months.
• I have been working as a waitress for the past week. 

For and Since 

 
Since and for are very common time expressions used with the Present Perfect Continuous.

We use for with a period of time, for example:

• I have been living here for 20 years.

When talking about a starting point, we use since, for example:

• I have been living here since 1960.

Questions

HAVE/HAS	+	Subject	+	BEEN	+	Verb (continuous form)
		e.g. he, she, a dog, etc.				e.g. walking, going, taking, etc.

	Examples
	Have you been running?
	Has Tom been walking the dog?
	How long have you been learning English?
	What have you been doing there?

Negative Sentences

Subject	+	HAVE/HAS	+	BEEN	+	Verb (continuous form)
e.g. he, she, a dog, etc.						e.g. walking, going, taking, etc.

	Examples
	No, I haven't been crying. I'm just cold.
	His car is broken, so he hasn't been driving it lately.

Past Perfect Continuous

Basic form

Subject + HAD + BEEN + Verb (continuous form)

Use

The Past Perfect Continuous is used to talk about actions or situations that were in progress before some other actions or situations. There are also other uses.

1. Duration of a past action up to a certain point in the past
2. Showing cause of an action or situation
3. Third conditional sentences
4. Reported speech

Use 1: Duration of a Past Action

The main use of the Past Perfect Continuous is to express actions or situations that were in progress before some other actions or situations.

• The boys had been quarreling for half an hour when we arrived home.
• I had been dating Angelina for 3 years before we got married.

Use 2: Showing Cause

Use this tense to show cause of an action or situation in the past.

• John was in a detention because he had been misbehaving.
• The road was wet because it had been raining.
• I had to go on a diet because I had been eating too much sugar.
• Jessica got sunburnt because she had been lying in the sun too long.

Use 3: Third Conditional

Remember that this tense is also used in third conditional sentences.

• If it hadn't been raining, we would have gone to the park.

Use 4: Reported Speech

This tense also appears in Reported speech.

• She said she knew Charlie had been lying to her. 

Questions

HAD	+	Subject	+	BEEN	+	Verb (continuous form)
		e.g. he, she, a dog, etc.				e.g. walking, going, taking, etc.

	Examples
	For how many hours had Fred been painting the house when the ladder fell?
	How long had the player been playing before he scored?

Negative Sentences

Subject	+	HAD + NOT	+	BEEN	+	Verb (continuous form)
e.g. he, she, a dog, etc.						e.g. walking, going, taking, etc.

	Examples
	Mary hadn't been waiting for longer than 10 minutes.
	He said he was't tired because he hadn't been working that day.
	If it hadn't been raining, we would have played football.
	If I hadn't been studying all night, I would have problems with this test now.

Future Perfect Continuous

Basic form

Subject + WILL HAVE BEEN + Verb (past participle form)

We use the Future Perfect Continuous tense to express situations that will last for a specified period of time at a definite moment in the future. We also use this tense to express certainty about the cause of some future situation.

Use

1. Duration at a definite moment in the future
2. Cause of a future situation

USE 1: Duration

We use this tense to express situations that will last for a specified period of time at a definite moment in the future. It is important that we expect these situations to last longer.

• Before they come, we will have been cleaning the house for 5 hours.
• By the next year, Ben and his wife will have been living together for 50 years. 

 

USE 2: Cause

English speakers also use this tense when they want to express certainty about the cause of some future situation.

• By this time, he will have been working for 12 hours, so he will be very tired.
• We will be making a rest stop in half an hour, because you will have been driving the car for 6 hours by then.

Note

If duration of an activity (e.g. "since April", "for three hours") is unknown then the Future Continuous should be used instead of the Perfect Form.
Example:

• I will be taking a bath.
• I will have been taking a bath.

 Common Time Expressions 

Time expressions that are commonly used with the Future Perfect Continuous:

• By tomorrow / 8 o'clock
• This year / month / week
• Next year / month / week

Negative Sentences

Subject	+	Auxiliary verb	+	Auxiliary verb	+	Auxiliary verb	+	Verb + ing
e.g. I/a dog etc.		will not		have		been		e.g. eating/giving/going etc.

Examples		Use
	She won't have been writing the book for four months by the end of October.	(Use 1)

Note

 

Negative sentences sound rather unnatural. This is probably because the answer to a question like, "Will she have been teaching for 30 years this year?", would simply be, "No, I don't think so".

Questions

Auxiliary verb	+	Subject	+	Auxiliary verb	+	Auxiliary verb	+	Verb + ing
will		e.g. I/a dog etc.		have		been		e.g. eating/giving/going etc.

Examples		Use
	Will he have been writing the composition for a month by the end of February?	(Use 1)

 

Good to know 

Questions beginning with "how long" are more common.

• How long will you have been learning German this year?
• How long will you have been trying to get your driving license this week? I hope you'll finally make it!

Future Perfect Progressive in the Past

As for the Future Perfect Progressive in the Past,  its  use is structurally dependent: mainly found in object clauses after one of the past finite forms in the principle clause.

e.g. They believed that they would have been working there for 25 years by 2008.

Exercises

Elementary

Exercise 1

Read the choices and choose the best answer to the question you have read.

Exercise 2
Read the choices and choose the best answer to the question you have read.

Exercise 3
Put the verbs into the correct form. 

Exercise 4

Write negative sentences in present perfect progressive.

Exercise 5

Read the choices and choose the best answer to the question you have read.

Exercise 6

Write verbs in the correct form 

Exercise 7

Put words in right order.

Exercise 8

Match the phrases on the left with a possible suggestion of what has been happening.

Exercise 9

Complete the questions.

Exercise 10

Put the verbs in brackets in the correct tense.

Intermediate

Exercise 1

Fill out all the gaps.

Exercise 2

Fill out all the gaps.

Exercise 3

Change the verb into the correct form.

Exercise 4

Complete the sentences.

Exercise 5

Change the verb into the correct form.

Exercise 6

Change the verb into the correct form.

Exercise 7

Use the words below to form present perfect continuous tense sentences.

Exercise 8

Complete the sentences below with either the simple or continuous form of present perfect.

Exercise 9

Test your knowledge on the Present Perfect Progressive.

Exercise 10
Complete sentences using Present Perfect Continuous.

Advanced

Exercise 1

Complete the text below with the appropriate tenses.

Exercise 2
Complete the text below with the appropriate tenses.

Exercise 3
Complete the text below with the appropriate tenses.

Exercise 4
Choose the most correct tense.

Exercise 5
Fill the gaps with the correct form of verbs.

Exercise 6
Complete the sentence.

Exercise 7
Complete sentences using Present Perfect Continuous.

Exercise 8
Complete the sentences.

Exercise 9
Fill the gaps with the correct form of verbs.

Exercise 10
Complete the text below with the appropriate tenses.


Test
Keys