by Khadim Hussain

Created on: August 25, 2010

It is very important for a leaner of English language to have good command over English Tenses. A good knowledge of tenses help him/her to write and speak grammatically-correct and error-free English. Like all other tense, the Present Perfect continuous or the Present Perfect Progressive ia also very important to learn.

We use , lilke the Present continuous, the Present perfect continuous to talk about situations which started in the past and are still going on. The difference is that the present perfect continuous shows the specific time or the length of time of an activity going on.

Its structure is : SUBJECT + HAVE/HAS BEEN + FIRST FORM (IING) + OBJECT

In order to show the time, we use 'Since" and 'FOr". Since is used for specific or point of time while for is used to show the length of time.

For examples: I have been reading since morning.

He has been going there for three days.

They have been living in this house for ten years.

She has been doing this work since evening.

HOW TO FORM NEGATIVE SENTENCES

We use have not been and has not been to make negative sentences.

HOW TO FORM INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES

We use Have and Has before the subject to make interrogative sentences:

Have you been doing this work since morning?

Have they been learning English for three months?

You must also note here that the Present Perfect Continuous is also used to show an activity has just stopped and has present results.

For examples: Why is this floor wet? " Because it has been raining".

Why are you out of breath? " Because I have been running."

"Why are you tired?" "Because I have been cleaning all these rooms."

THE PRESENT PERFECT V/S THE PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

Both these tenses show recent actions and situations that have present results. However, there is an important difference. The Present Perfect Progressive focuses on the action, looking at it as a continuous, extended activity, which is not necessarily finished or completed. On the other hand, the Present perfect shows the completion of an activity with present result.

I have been learning vocabulary all the day. (Continuity of an action)

I have learnt new words today. (Completion)

 A student will do well to go through all the above-mentioned relevant information about the Present Perfect Progressive to enable himself to use it correctly and effectively in his speaking and writing.

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