Present Perfect Continuous Tense
Form
Positive | Subject + has/ have + been + Verb-ING She’s been waiting here for 2 hours. | |
Negative | Subject + has/ have + not + been + Verb-ING Has not = hasn’t Have not = haven’t She hasn’t been waiting here for 2 hours. | |
Question | Has/ Have + Subject + been + Verb-ING? Has she been waiting here for 2 hours? | |
Usages
Present Perfect | Present Perfect Continuous | ||
Similarities | Talk about an action that began in the past and is still going on or has just finished | ||
Differences | Emphasize an action that is completed I have already done my homework. (I have finished homework.) | Emphasize that something is not finished I have been doing my homework since 3 pm. (I am still doing homework.) | |
Talk about how much/many have been completed My mom has made 11 cookies. | Talk about how long something has been happening My mom has been making cookies for 3 hours. | ||
Talk about permanent situations I have lived here for 10 years. | Talk about more temporary situations Ex: I have been living here for 2 weeks. | ||
Signal words:
Since, for, how long
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