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What is Grammar?
English Grammar Terms
The 8 English Parts of
Speech
These are the words that you use to make a sentence.
There are only
8 types of word - and the most
important is the Verb!
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Verbs |
be, have, do, work |
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Nouns |
man, town, music |
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Adjectives |
a, the, 69, big |
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Adverbs |
loudly, well, often |
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Pronouns |
you, ours, some |
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Prepositions |
at, in, on, from |
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Conjunctions |
and, but, though |
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Interjections |
ah, dear, er, um |
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Hot Links
Verbs
Passive voice
Modal verbs
Conditionals
Questions
Irregular
verbs
Going to
Gerunds
Phrasal Verbs
Tenses
Nouns
(Un) Countable nouns
Adjectives
Articles
Pronouns
Preposition List
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| Grammar Quizzes
Parts of Speech Quiz
Verb Classification Quiz
Main Verb Forms Quiz
Active or Passive Quiz
Subjunctive Quiz
Future Time Quiz
Continuous Tense Verb
Quiz
Used to do or Be used to
Quiz
Have to,
Must, Must not Quiz
Can, Could, Be able
to Quiz
Questions Quiz
Tag Questions
Quiz
Infinitive or
-ing Quiz
Gerunds Quiz
Phrasal Verbs
Quiz
Conditionals Quiz
For or Since Quiz
Present Simple
Present Continuous
Present Perfect
Simple
Present Perfect
Continuous
Past Simple
Questions
Comparative
Adjectives
Superlative
Adjectives
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Present Perfect Continuous Tense
How do we make the Present Perfect Continuous Tense?
The structure of the present perfect continuous tense is:
| subject |
+ |
auxiliary verb |
+ |
auxiliary verb |
+ |
main verb |
|
|
have
has |
|
been |
|
base + ing |
Here are some examples of the present perfect continuous
tense:
| |
subject |
auxiliary verb |
|
auxiliary verb |
main verb |
|
| + |
I |
have |
|
been |
waiting |
for one hour. |
| + |
You |
have |
|
been |
talking |
too much. |
| - |
It |
has |
not |
been |
raining. |
|
| - |
We |
have |
not |
been |
playing |
football. |
| ? |
Have |
you |
|
been |
seeing |
her? |
| ? |
Have |
they |
|
been |
doing |
their homework? |
Contractions
When we use the present perfect continuous tense in speaking, we
often contract the subject and the first auxiliary. We also sometimes do this
in informal writing.
| I have been |
I've been |
| You have been |
You've been |
He has been
She has been
It has been
John has
been
The car has been |
He's been
She's been
It's been
John's been
The
car's been |
| We have been |
We've been |
| They have been |
They've been |
Here are some examples:
- I've been reading.
- The car's been giving trouble.
- We've been playing tennis for two hours.
How do we use the Present Perfect Continuous Tense?
This tense is called the present perfect continuous tense.
There is usually a connection with the present or now. There are
basically two uses for the present perfect continuous tense:
We use the present perfect continuous tense to talk about an
action that started in the past and stopped recently. There is usually a
result now.
| I'm tired because
I've been running. |
| past |
present |
future |
|
|
| Recent action. |
Result now. |
|
- I'm tired [now] because I've been
running.
- Why is the grass wet [now]? Has it been
raining?
- You don't understand [now] because you
haven't been listening.
We use the present perfect continuous tense to talk about an
action that started in the past and is continuing now. This is
often used with for or since.
| I have been
reading for 2 hours. |
| past |
present |
future |
|
|
| Action started in past. |
Action is continuing now. |
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- I have been reading for 2
hours. [I am still reading now.]
- We've been studying since 9
o'clock. [We're still studying now.]
- How long have you been learning English? [You are
still learning now.]
- We have not been smoking. [And we are not smoking
now.]
For and Since with Present Perfect Continuous Tense
We often use for and since with the present perfect
tense.
- We use for to talk about a period of time—5
minutes, 2 weeks, 6 years.
- We use since to talk about a point in past
time—9 o'clock, 1st January, Monday.
| for |
since |
| a period of time |
a point in past time |
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| 20 minutes |
6.15pm |
| three days |
Monday |
| 6 months |
January |
| 4 years |
1994 |
| 2 centuries |
1800 |
| a long time |
I left school |
| ever |
the beginning of time |
| etc |
etc |
Here are some examples:
- I have been studying for 3 hours.
- I have been watching TV since 7pm.
- Tara hasn't been feeling well for 2 weeks.
- Tara hasn't been visiting us since March.
- He has been playing football for a long time.
- He has been living in Bangkok since he left school.
| EnglishClub.com Tip |
| For can be used with
all tenses. Since is usually used with perfect tenses only. |
Now
check your understanding >> |
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