The present perfect continuous tense

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Look at this paragraph:                                                  ​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​អានជាភាសាខ្មែរ

           

            Mr. Bora is a teacher of English at Hun Sen Sa ang High School. He started teaching it in 2005. Now he is still teaching English. So he has been teaching English for 8 years.

The sentence in red type is called the present perfect continuous tense.

           

We form the present perfect continuous tense like this:

Positive form:

Subject + have/has + been + base verb +ING +...

(Base Verb + ING is also called the present participle)

·         They have been waiting for you for hours.

·         Mr. Savery has been running his English part-time classes since 2010.

·         I have been studying ​how to create a website for a year.

Negative form:

Subject+ have/has +NOT+ been + base verb+ ING + ...

·         My dad hasn’t been painting his room lately.

·         Most teachers of English haven’t been practicing the teacher-center approach​ for the last five years.

Interrogative form:

Have/Has + subject+ been + base verb+ ING+...?

·         Have you been crying?

·         Has she been waiting for me?

·         Have Miss Thida and you been trying to pass the exam?

Yes/No questions and answers:

·         Have you been doing anything to get oversea scholarship?

Yes, I have   

 No, I haven’t     

·         Has she been practicing English recently?

Yes, she has    

 No, she hasn’t     

@ Note:

Some learners probably don’t know what subjects are used with have, hasor the past participle​ ​of a specific base verb. You must know the spelling of verb + ING, too. If you don’t know these you can’t use the present perfect continuous correctly.

Use

The present perfect continuous tense is used

1.      to express a past action that has continued up to the present. It may be completed or may be not.

         

·         Dara has been reading this novel for two days.

·         I have been writing my report all day.

2.      for an immediate past action with its present result.

·         Sa em is heavily drunk; he has been drinking a lot of beer.

                    (present result)              ( immediate past action)

            

·        You smell good. Have you been wearing some perfume?

3.      for a temporary action that happened in the past and continues to the present.

·        Now that I have a lot projects to work on, I have been staying up late at night.

·        My brother has been redecorating his house for the past three days.

4.      to express our annoyance over someone’s behavior or we want someone to explain about a​ recent action they have been doing.

·        Have you been meeting Tum again?

·        Who has been using my computer?

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Thanks for reading!