For Intermediate learners

The present perfect continuous tense is a useful tense in English grammar. Why? Because it connects the present and the past. Let's see how.

"Present Perfect Continuous" Tense in English Grammar

What Is Present Perfect Continuous?

The present perfect continuous is a verb tense that shows an event or an action that started in the past and is continuing up until now.

Structure

We form the present perfect continuous tense with the help of two auxiliary verbs and the '-ing' form of the main verb.

Aux #1 Aux #2 -ing form of main verb
I have been running
She has been working

If we invert the subject and has/have, we can make questions.
Negations are made with the help of 'not' placed between 'have/has' and 'been.'

I have been running for an hour. → Have you been running for an hour?

I have been running for an hour. → I have not been running for an hour.

Use

We use the present perfect continuous to talk about something that started in the past and is continuing up until now.

He is exhausted because he's been running.

The dog is soaking wet. Has it been raining outside?

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The future continuous tense is used by native English speakers quite often and this is your chance to learn and understand this tense so you can start using it.

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Present perfect is a useful tense that talks about an action that happened in an indefinite time in the past. In this lesson, we will learn more about them.

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This tense is an advance tense and we use it to talk about the past in a lot of interesting ways, and you’ll see what they are. So are you ready? Let’s start.

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The future perfect tense is an advanced tense; it will allow you to speak about the future in a really interesting way that may not exist in your own language.
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