present perfect continuous

THE PRESENT PERFECT

CONTINUOUS

Affirmative sentences:

We use the auxiliary “have” (“has“ for the 3rd person singular) + been +the infinitive of the verb -ing.

e.g. They have been running.

FORM

Negative sentences:

We use the auxiliary “have” (“has“ for the 3rd person singular) + not + been +the infinitive of the verb -ing.

e.g. They have not been running.

Questions:

We use the auxiliary “have” (“has“ for the 3rd person singular) + been +the infinitive of the verb -ing. And we also change the word order to have/has + subject + been + infinitive-ing

e.g. Have they been running?

USEWe use the Present Perfect Continuous to talk about an action which started in the past and continuous up to now with action verbs.Examples    They’ve been going out together for 10 years.    He’s been working here since March.    How long have you been learning English? Tip! We often use since and for to say how long the action has lasted.Note: In these cases the present perfect simple is correct too, but less idiomatic.

We also use the Present Perfect Continuous to talk about actions that have been going on very recently. They have usually just stopped, but you can see some evidence of what has been happening or it has the meaning of “lately”, “recently”.Example    Your eyes are red. Have you been crying?

No, I have been cutting onions.

Robin: I think the waiter ________________(forget) us. We _____________________(wait) here for over half an hour and nobody (take) our order yet.

Michele: I think you're right. He _____________________(walk) by us at least twenty times. He probably thinks we _____________________(order, already) .

Robin: Look at that couple over there, they ___________________(be, only) here for five or ten minutes and they already have their food.

PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE OR CONTINUOUS

Michele: He must realize we _____________________(order, not) yet! We __________________(sit) here for over half an hour staring at him.

Robin: I don't know if he _________________________(notice, even) us. He ______________________(run) from table to table taking orders and serving food.

Michele: That's true, and he _______________________(look, not) in our direction once.

://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs8.htm

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs9.htm

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs10.htm

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/present-perfect-progressive/exercises