I. The formation of the Present Perfect Continuous Tense

The Present Perfect Continuous is formed by means of the Present Perfect of the auxiliary verb to be and Participle I of the notional verb. Participle I is formed by adding the suffix - ing to the stem of the verb.

In the interrogative form the first auxiliary verb is placed before the subject.

In the negative form the negative particle not is placed after the first auxiliary verb.

II. The contracted affirmative forms are:

I’ve been working

He’s been working

You’ve been working

The contracted negative forms are:

I haven’t been working

He hasn’t been working

You’ve been working

The negative-interrogative forms are:

Has he not been working?

Hasn’t he been working?

Have you not been working?

Haven’t you been working?

III.The use of the Present Perfect Continuous

We use the Present Perfect Continuous for action that started in the past and is still happening. Usually if the action started a few minutes or hours ago, we use the Present Perfect Continuous, and if it has been happening for longer, we can use either the simple or continuous form.

I have been studying for three hours.

(I started studying three hours ago and I am still studying.)

They have been living in Paris for three years.

(They have lived in Paris for three years, and are still there.)

We use the Present Perfect Continuous when we talk about an action (quite a long action) which began in the past and has recently stopped or just stopped.

You are out of breath. Have you been running?

That man over there is bright red. I think he’s been sunbathing.

3. We often use the Present Perfect Continuous with verbs like learn, lie (on the bed), live, rest, sleep, sit, stand, stay, which describe states of being rather than actions.

Alex has been sleeping for hours.

We can also use the continuous form when we want to emphasize how long something has been happening.

I’ve been learning Italian for six years and I still can’t speak it properly!

Sorry I’m late. Have you been waiting long?

Sometimes the action is a repeated action.

Tom has been driving for ten years.

How long have you been smoking?