Present Perfect Continuous
As the name suggests, this tense includes elements of the perfect and continuous tenses. Namely, it includes both “have” or “has” and the past participle “been” plus the verb +ing. It looks like this:
| Positive | Negative | Question |
| I have been studying. | I have not been studying. | Have I been studying? |
| You have been studying. | You have not been studying. | Have you been studying? |
| We have been studying. | We have not been studying. | Have we been studying? |
| They have been studying. | They have not been studying. | Have they been studying? |
| He has been studying. | He has not been studying. | Has he been studying? |
| She has been studying. | She has not been studying. | Has she been studying? |
| It has been studying. | It has not been studying. | Has it been studying? |
How to Use Present Perfect Continuous
This tense is less common than the previous three and has a more specific application.
- For describing an ongoing activity and the length of time that it has
- I’ve been learning Spanish for six
- We’ve been dating for two
- They’ve been caring for that sick dog since last
- It is used with the present simple to explain the current
- I’m tired because I’ve been looking after the baby all
- She’s hungry because she’s been dieting
- We’re broke because we’ve been spending too much