Present perfect progressive rules in the table. Examples of Present Perfect Continuous

When studying English, students can deal with Perfect at times and Continuous in order to learn how to use them automatically. Therefore, one can imagine their feelings when they reach such a scary topic How Perfect Continuous. It's two times at once, and even not so simple! However, these fears are completely in vain, and now we will be convinced of this by the example of time. Present Perfect Continuous (pronounced [present perfect continius]).

Present Perfect Continuous Tense (also known as Present Perfect Progressive Tense) or present perfect continuous tense is a tense in English used to express actions that began and either lasted up to a certain point in the past, or continue to continue until now.

This time is used relatively rarely, since it is often replaced by Present Perfect time, but it is still necessary to know it, because in certain situations it will not be possible to do without it. Moreover, the correct use of sentences in Present Perfect Continuous will only confirm your high level knowledge of the language, and therefore will attract the praise of native speakers. Let's look at how this time is formed and used.

The formation of the Present Perfect Continuous is similar to the formation of the Present Perfect and tenses. To form this tense, two verbs are needed: auxiliary and semantic. The auxiliary is the verb to be in the Present Perfect form. It has 2 perfect forms depending on person and number:

Semantic verbs are formed using Participle I or the present participle. To form it, you must add the ending -ing to the verb.

Actually, that's all. By adding both parts, you get the verb in Present Perfect Continuous Tense:

Present Perfect Continuous: sentence forms

We figured out the formation of verbs, now let's see how to make sentences with them in various forms.

Affirmative sentences with Present Perfect Continuous

The affirmative form of Present Perfect Continuous, as always, is standard: first the subject is used, after the predicate, expressed by auxiliary and semantic verbs. Any one can complete the offer. minor member. Table for clarity:

This example is used in Active Voice or actual pledge. If you want to use Passive Voice (passive voice), you may have difficulty.

• Firstly, in order to form Passive Voice in Present Perfect Continuous, you still need to try, because you need to use 4 verbs in a row.
• Secondly, even if you can easily cope with the first task, you will agree that phrases in Passive Voice a la “have been being understood” sound at least unusual.
• Thirdly, Passive Voice is also not used by carriers with this time, so even they will not be able to appreciate your efforts.

Yes, it is theoretically possible to build a Continuous Passive, but in practice, no one needs such proposals. In general, do not complicate English for yourself or others and do not use Continuous Passive. If you need to show that the action was not performed by a person / object, but was directed at him, use not Continuous Passive, but Passive Voice in Present Perfect time.

Negative sentences with Present Perfect Continuous

The negative form in Present Perfect Continuous Tense is formed by adding a negative particle not between have (has) and been:

Both in the affirmative and in the negative forms, abbreviations are possible:

You may have noticed that has in the affirmative sentence is abbreviated in the same way as is . To understand what time is used, remember the rules of education. The present perfect continuous in English is always required after the verb has been. If both of these verbs are in the sentence, then the speaker is using this particular tense.

Interrogative sentences with Present Perfect Continuous

The interrogative form is based on the type of question:

• For general question auxiliaries need to be moved have verbs and has at the beginning of a sentence. Been remains in its original place:

• In an alternative question, some second member of the sentence is added for the choice, which is supported by the conjunction or (or):

• Special questions are identical to general ones, only they use a question word before have (has):

• In a disjunctive question, you need to use an affirmative or negative sentence, after which a short question is asked:

Present Perfect Continuous: use

Present Perfect Continuous Tense or present perfect continuous tense is used in the following situations:

1. To express an action that started in the past and is still going on. In this case, the speaker knows when the action began and how long it has been going on. He cannot say when the action will end.
   Usually such sentences contain pointer words: recently (the other day), lately (recently), quite a while ( for a long time/ a long time ago), these ... weeks (a few weeks), all my life (my whole life), all day (long) / this month / this year (all day, month, year); as well as the time markers for (during) and since (since), which are used as hints for using this time:

In the same case, tense can be used to ask a special question. Such a question usually begins with the words: how long (how long) or since when (from what moment):

1. Present Perfect Continuous Tense is also used in cases where the action began in the past, lasted a certain time and ended recently. This option emphasizes the duration of the action that led to some result in the present. Markers in such sentences can be omitted:

1. Present Perfect Continuous is also used when we mean that some action happened earlier. Such a conclusion is made from what he heard / saw. More often this option is used in a negative context:

1. The present perfect continuous is also used in complex sentence, which has a time clause. Temporary markers for entering subordinate clauses here are limited to one word since (since). This subordinate clause used in Past Simple, and most importantly built in Present Perfect Continuous:

1. Don't forget that continuous times are not used with state verbs or state verbs that express feelings, perception, mental activity, possession of something. In this case, instead of Continuous time, Present Perfect is used:

However, there are exceptions here. The use of Present Perfect Continuous time is possible, if it is necessary to highlight the action, to give it a more pronounced shade. So, for example, in Present Perfect Continuous you can find the verbs wish (wish), want (want) and mean (gather):

1. Also pay attention to those verbs that are used in both Present Perfect and Present Perfect Continuous. Such verbs include words that themselves imply a continuous action. For example: live (live), sleep (sleep), study (learn), teach (teach), work (work), run (meaning "manage"):

If the situation continues to last for a certain period, but is temporary or will change soon, use Present Perfect Continuous:

It is worth noting that, despite the similarity of signs not only with Present Perfect, but also, in some way, with Present Continuous, you cannot use sentences replacing Present Continuous Present Perfect Continuous and vice versa. These times have different meaning and cannot be interchanged.

Present Perfect Continuous translation into Russian

It is worth paying special attention to the Russian translation of Present Perfect Continuous. As you already know, this time either indicates an action that lasted and ended, or an action that began and is still ongoing. Accordingly, based on the choice of one of the two mentioned cases, the translation is built. So, if we want to show that the action has already ended, when translating into Russian, we use imperfective verbs in the past tense:

If the action is still ongoing, then the translation is carried out with verbs used in the same form, but in the present tense:

It is possible to understand what time is meant based on the context.

The present completed long time, as you see, is not as difficult as it looks at first glance. Since this time is limited to certain situations, accordingly, it does not have a wide variety of uses. It is also quite simple to build, especially if you are already familiar with other times. Therefore, do not avoid Present Perfect Continuous, use it correctly, and if you need to repeat some rules that are associated with it, return to this page and reread the examples. And you can also consolidate your knowledge by going to the page

Hello my beloved readers.

What is your favorite tense in English? I can bet that you have not even thought about the one that will be discussed today. And in vain, because the Present Perfect Continuous rules are the simplest of all 12 existing ones. Let's bet I can convince you of that today. We are waiting for the rules and examples for both schoolchildren, for example, grade 8, and for those who are older.

How is formed

There is nothing difficult in the order of formation of this time. General principle simple:

Subject + verb to have (has) + been + predicate with the ending -ing + additions and circumstances.

Let's look at examples:

I have been helping at the golf competition the whole morning. - I helped in the golf competition all morning. (The action continued and only recently ended)

He has been preparing for the test for the whole evening. It's time to eat something. She has been preparing for the test all evening. It's time for something to eat. (The action continued, but ended)

The most important feature in shaping Present Perfect Continuous - use of the auxiliary verb have.

1. When we are talking about the first and second person (I, we, you, you, they) - then we put the form in the sentence have.
2. When it comes to third parties (he, she, it), then have turns into has.

Let's break it down in detail in a table.

In the negative form, a particle is added to have not.

And to form a question, you need to move have to the very beginning of the sentence.

So, remembering the formation of this time is not so difficult. So let's move on to when it is applied in practice.

When used: beginner level

For beginners, the main thing to remember are two main use cases.

• Imagine that the action has already started earlier. It lasted for some time, and by the time the conversation was over. This is one situation.

She has been preparing this cake for 3 hours. She cooked this cake for 3 hours. (And already finished)

I have been practicing here for seven years. “I worked there for seven years. (But on this moment I do not work)

• The second use case is when the action has not completed by the time of the conversation, but continues further.

My sister has been decorating the house for a week already. My sister has been decorating the house for a week now. (But still not finished)

My mother has been talking to my sister on skype for 2 hours already. - My mother has been talking to my sister on Skype for 2 hours. (And continues to this day)

Another important aspect to understand is that time is connected to the past . Let's look at an example.

We have been driving since 6 a.m. and haven't found the house yet. - We have been driving since 6 am and still have not found a house.

We are driving around the village but cannot find their house. - We drive around the village, but we can't find their house.

In the first case, people started riding in the past and continue to ride until now. From the second sentence, we do not see a connection with the past. We're just getting to know the fact that they're driving right now and can't find a home.

You may be wondering: how do you know when an action is over? The only advice I can give you is to look at the context of the sentence and the pointers. For or Since serve this time well. If even after that you still don’t understand, try inserting other tense options and take a closer look at the meaning. Most likely, no other time will fit the meaning of the text.

When used: "professional" level

• Often Present Perfect Continuous can be replaced by Present Perfect without prejudice to the sentence itself. But still, if you want to emphasize the duration of the action, use the first option.

I have lived there for 11 years. - I have been living there for 11 years. - I lived there for 11 years.

• And in one sentence you can find both Present Perfect Continuous and Past Simple. This usually happens when a conjunction appears in a two-part sentence. since .

I have been practicing yoga since I visited India. - I have been doing yoga since I visited India.

• In Present Perfect Continuous, we can express our dissatisfaction or share criticism, but only with an event that happened once.

She has been crying over him for a few months although he wasn't such a great love of hers. She's been mourning him for months now, even though he wasn't that big of a love.

Well, my dears, do you understand this time better now? Share in the comments what problems and questions you have - I will be happy to help solve them. And if everything is clear to you, then even more practice awaits you on the page where the test and are collected to test you.

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Why are examples given in the rules? Perhaps a detailed explanation would suffice? But no! Visual perception of the English sentence, text, comparison with the Russian version are important, if not the main elements of the entire learning process. This is what will help to comprehend the soul of each phenomenon, for example, Present Perfect Continuous.

Let's start with the fact that this time is not just present, but completed and continued. This can only mean one thing: it lasts at the moment of the conversation or literally just ended. Despite the long name, Present Perfect Continuous is easy to use: just two situations or functions.

Examples of Present Perfect Continuous

• If action lasts for the moment of the conversation, but it started in the past, happened in that time period, and is still relevant now, then we use Present Perfect Continuous. In such sentences, you can find clues already, for, since, recently, a question with How long. It can be two parallel actions, and those that were performed repeatedly (several times).

Is it still raining? — It's been raining since yesterday morning.— Is it still raining? It has been raining since yesterday morning.

Tom has been playing tennis recently. Tom has been playing tennis lately.

I have been watching the game since I have been sitting there.— I've been watching the game since I've been sitting here.

I have been repairing my car for several days. I have been repairing my car for several days now.

He has been smoking for 10 years. He has been smoking for 10 years.

• An action that started in the past lasted finished talking. Most often, signal words are not found in such sentences, the whole situation, and hence the time, follows from the context.

Sorry. I'm late. I have been preparing for my examination. Have you been waiting?- Sorry I'm late. I was preparing for my exams. Have you been waiting?

You are out of breath! Have you been trained?- You're out of breath. Have you been exercising?

Why are you so dirty? What have you been doing?- You're so dirty. What did you do?

I've been talking about your problem to my mother.— I talked about your problem with your mother.

• In a separate line, you can display emotionally colored sentences that also use Present Perfect Continuous

She has been telling lies again. She's lying again!

• Very often it is difficult to use the cases of Present Perfect Continuous or Present Perfect Simple, because each of them is based on the connection of the past and the present. Let's look at the sentences in Present Perfect Continuous and compare.

1. If we care about ourselves process, not result then use it for a long time.

Ann is covered in paint. She has been painting her country house. Anna is covered in paint. She was painting a country house.
The country house was yellow. Now it's blue. Ann has painted it.— The country house was yellow. Now he is blue. Anna painted it.

Tom should smoke less, because he has been smoking too much recently.- He should smoke less. He has been smoking too much lately.
The guests have smoked all my cigarettes. The guests smoked all my cigarettes.

2. Continuous emphasizes the process itself, how long did the action last, and therefore answers the question how long? (how long) . Present Perfect Simple answers the question How much? (How many) and comments on how much work was done in a certain time.

My friends have been writing poems all day. My friends have been writing poems all day.
My friends have written 2 poems today. Today my friends wrote 2 poems.

How long have you been writing your last novel? How long did it take you to write your last novel?
How many pages of your novel have you written? How many pages of your novel have you written?

3. The continuous present refers to temporary actions, and completed to permanent .

That man has been standing outside for hours. That man stood outside for several hours.
That man has always worked hard. That man always works hard.

I have known him for some time.— I've known him for a while.
She has been in Minsk for the past last week. She has been in Minsk for the past week.

But Present Perfect Continuous Passive does not exist. You can rejoice, with Passive Voice it will already be easier.

Summarize. Perfect Continuous is not as difficult to remember as it seems. If you clearly see the pointers, look at the lexical side of the sentence, learn the rules, look at the examples, then you will not confuse this tense with another.

There are difficult moments in the grammar of the English language. Time Present Perfect Continuous tense (Real Perfect Continuous) refers to such. But do not panic and be disappointed in advance, it is better to figure it out together.

Main question

If not all, then many have heard about the main difficulty of the English language - tenses. Therefore, in the first lessons of learning a language, the question of the number of tenses is raised. But, as they say, the devil is not so black as it is painted (the devil is not so terrible as he is painted). There are only three tenses in English - Present (Present), Past (Past) and Future (Future). However, depending on what kind of action we have in front of us, four aspects are distinguished in each time - Simple (Simple), Continuous (Long), Perfect (Perfect), Perfect Continuous (Long Perfect).

Today we are talking about how it is formed and when to use Present Perfect Continuous.

Education formula

Present Perfect Progressive time refers to unusual times. It combines the "incongruous" - the aspect of Perfect (Perfect) with the aspect of Continuous (Long) in Present (Present tense). From this follows the "double" formula of education: (have/has + 3rd verb) + (to be + verb + -ing) = have/has + been (3rd verb to be) + verb + -ing . In other words, this tense form is formed using the “double” auxiliary verb have/has been (not translated, but changes in persons and numbers) and the main verb with the ending - ing (translated but not changed).

How it "works" in practice can be seen in the table:

The verb form in Present Perfect Continuous Passive voice (Present Continuous Perfect in passive voice) is built according to the formula “subject + have / has + been + being + main verb in the 3rd form”, but is used in oral speech and texts extremely rarely (This monument has been being built for 50 years - This monument has been built for 50 years)

Negation

Negative sentences in the Present Perfect Progressive are built according to the same formula, but with the addition of a negative particle not (not) between two auxiliary verbs: subject + have/has + not + been + main verb + -ing .

Question

Interrogative sentences in English are distinguished by the reverse word order. The formation of a question in Present Perfect Continuous also obeys this rule: Have/has + subject + been + main verb + -ing?

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As a rule, special questions in Present Perfect Continuous begin with the question words How long? (how long?) and Since when? (From which moment?). They are, one might say, time markers (How long has it been snowing? - How long has it been snowing?)

Use

Aspects of Perfect (Perfect) and Continuous (Long) affect not only the formula for the formation of Present Perfect Continuous time, but also the cases of its use. On the one hand, it describes an action with a result. On the other hand, it emphasizes its duration in time. So, despite the long and slightly intimidating name, it does not have too many functions and they are easy to remember:

• To describe events that originate in the past and continue up to the present:

Alice has been swimming since morning - Alice has been swimming since morning (Alice started swimming in the morning and still continues to do this)

My grandfather likes news. He has been watching news on TV for two hours - My grandfather loves the news. He watches the news on TV for two hours.

• To describe events that started recently, lasted for a while, just ended, and have a visible result in the present:

• This time is characterized by pointer words that emphasize the duration of the action: recently (recently, the other day), lately (recently, recently), all day (all day), since (starting with), for (during).

A famous scientist has been recently developing new research programs - A famous scientist has recently been developing new research programs.

What have we learned?

The considered rules and examples of Present Perfect Continuous prove that appearances can be deceiving. The long formula of education and the confusing name of this temporary form are just an outer frightening shell. In fact, everything is much simpler: it has only two functions. The first is to indicate the completion of the action and its result in the present. The second is to emphasize duration.

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The Present Perfect Progressive Tense

This tense expresses a long-term action that began in the past and is still being done at the present time or has just ended. Translated into Russian in present tense. Here it is usually indicated how long this or that action is performed, i.e., a period of time is indicated, definite or indefinite:

for an hour - hour, within an hour,
for 2 hours - 2 hours, for 2 hours,
for 10 years - for 10 years,
for many years - many years,
for a week/month - week/month, during the week/month,
for a long time - for a long time, for a long time,
long - long,

since yesterday - since yesterday,
since 5 o'clock - from 5 o'clock,
How long ...? - How long ...?,
Since when…? - Since when…?

«+»: have/has + been + v-ing.

The auxiliary verb is present both in the negative and interrogative, and in the affirmative form.

You have been waiting for this moment for a long time. - You have been waiting for this moment for a long time (I started waiting sometime in the past, I waited for a while and now, finally, I just waited).

She has been living in this town for 10 years. - She has been living in this city for 10 years (she started living here 10 years ago, has lived here for 10 years and continues to live here).

«-»: have/has not + been + v-ing.

«?»: (What, Where) have/has + subject + been + V-ing …?

Have you been waiting for her answer long? - And how long do you wait for her answer?
What have you been talking about for so long? - What are you talking about for so long?
Has not already been drinking this cup of tea for an hour. - He has been drinking this cup of tea for an hour (he still won’t drink).
I have been looking for you all over for about 2 hours. - I've been looking for you everywhere for 2 hours already (and I just found it).
What have they been doing here since early morning? What have they been doing here since early morning?
How long has he been living in Denmark? How long has he been living in Denmark?
She has been teaching English since 1996. - She has been teaching English since 1996.

But: How long have you known her? - How long have you known her?

Instead of Present Perfect Progressive, Present Perfect is used, because the verb to know is not used in Progressive.
We have been here for 20 minutes already. - We have been here for 20 minutes (the verb to be is not used in Progressive).
It has been a long time since I saw him. - I haven't seen him for a long time.
If the semantic verb we have is one of those that are not used in the Progressive, but according to the meaning it is necessary to use it in the Present Perfect Progressive, then we use its Present Perfect.

(E. Gritsay - English Cheat Sheet)

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