Practice with the Present Perfect Continuous

Look up an English grammar reference book and find answers to the following questions considering the given examples:

1. What action does the Present Perfect Continuous denote?

All ministers have been working all day.

You are not well today. You look distressed. You have been weeping.

I have been discussing political matters since then.

I suppose you have been telling lies again.

2. What words, if any, are used to identify the Present Perfect Continuous?

I have been looking through all these bills for the last ten minutes.

People have been rating the activity of the Cabinet highly since it was elected.

3. Is it possible to use the Present Perfect Continuous with the verbs not admitting of the continuous form?

With the verbs not admitting of the continuous form the Present Perfect is the only tense possible.

“She’s dead – has been dead for hours”, said the doctor.

I ’ve heard for a long time already that there are many debates about the electoral system but our experts keep silence.

4. Which tense is used with non-terminative verbs?

With certain non-terminative verbs, such as to live, to work, to study, to teach,

to travel, etc., both the Present Perfect and the Present Perfect Continuous are used.

We have worked at the problem for several months.

(The fact is emphasized).

We have been working and working at the problem for months

and I don’t think we are likely to solve it.

(The process is emphasized).

5. Should the Present Perfect or the Present Perfect Continuous be used?

a. The Present Perfect denotes a completed action while with the Present Perfect Continuous there is an implication of incompleteness.

He has made some payments. Now he has to save.

John is out of money. He has been making some payments.

b. We use the Present Perfect Continuous to talk about how long something has been in progress.

We have been planning our meeting since 12 o’clock.

How long have you been typing letters?

We use the Present Perfect to talk about what has been achieved in a period of time.

I ’ve typed four letters so far this morning.

We have planned the greater part of our meeting since 12 o’clock.

c. We use the Present Perfect Continuous for situations which are more temporary (continuing for a short period).

He has been living there for just a few weeks.

We have been buying newspapers at the current price for just two days.

We use the Present Perfect for situations which are more permanent (continuing for a longer time).

You have worked hard all your life.

Exercise 1