Present Perfect Continuous Tense

We use Present Perfect Continuous Tense when we talk about actions that started in the past and is still going on.

Affirmative:SUBJECT+HAVE/HAS BEEN+DOING+OBJECT

I You We They	have	been	running.
He She It	has	been	running.

Negative:SUBJECT+HAVE/HAS NOT BEEN+DOING+OBJECT,

I You We They	have not (haven't)	been	running.
He She It	has not (hasn't)	been	running.

Question: HAVE/HAS+SUBJECT+BEEN DOING+OBJECT?

Have	I you we they	been	running?
Has	he she it	been	running?

 

With Present Perfect Continuous Tense we generally use since or for.

• After since we either use a full Past Simple sentence or a specific time in the past (date, time)

           Nelly has been singing since he was 17.

           George and Meryl have been working for this company since 2015.

• After for we use a period of time

           Nelly has been singing for 20 years.

           George and Meryl have been working for this company for 2 years.

 

How long… questions are asked and answered with Present Perfect Continuous Tense:

                                                 

- How long have you been practising English at Educall?                            - How long has he been studying?

+ I’ve been practising for 4 months.                                                          + He’s been studying since yesterday morning!

                                                       

- How long has he been cleaning that room?                                               - How long has she been sleeping?

+ He has been cleaning it for 5 hours!                                                        + She’s been sleeping for ages!