Unit 1 - Digital Age
Present Perfect Continuous Tense
Deepen your control over the Present Perfect Continuous to explain ongoing, result-focused actions with nuance at B2 level.
1. Quick Reminder (from B1)
- I have been studying all morning.
- She has been working here for five years.
- They have been playing football since 2 p.m.
These familiar sentences keep the classic pattern have/has + been + verb(-ing) in mind.
2. Advanced Form Variations
Emphatic questions
- How long have you been working on that proposal?
- Who has been handling the client updates?
Negative focus
- He hasn't been meeting his deadlines recently, which is affecting the team.
- We haven't been getting enough feedback from the users.
Passive voice
- The streets have been being cleaned all morning because of the festival.
- Members have not been being informed about the policy change.
3. Precise Usage at B2
| Function | When to Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Ongoing projects | Activities that started in the past and still influence the present. | We have been developing the app since last summer. |
| Recent evidence | Visible results explain the past activity. | His hands are dirty because he has been fixing the car. |
| Temporary trends | Repeated behavior over a limited time. | People have been ordering more plant-based meals lately. |
| Continuous complaints | Express irritation or repeated problems. | I have been waiting for his reply all week! |
4. Collocations and Signal Words
- for / since / lately / recently / these days / all morning / the whole week / still
- Typical collocations: have been negotiating, has been evolving, have been questioning, has been underperforming
Don’t overuse stative verbs
Keep the Present Perfect Simple for verbs like know, love, believe. ✅ I have known her for years. ❌ I have been knowing her for years.
5. Contrast with Present Perfect Simple
| Focus | Present Perfect Continuous | Present Perfect Simple |
|---|---|---|
| Process vs. result | We have been interviewing candidates all day. | We have interviewed three candidates so far. |
| Temporary vs. permanent | She has been living in Berlin for six months. | She has lived in Berlin since 2010. |
| Recent evidence | I’m exhausted because I have been running. | I have run five kilometers today. |
6. Practice Checks
- Describe an ongoing project in your life using for or since.
- Re-write a Present Perfect Simple sentence to emphasize the process instead of the result.
- Explain a visible result you can observe now using the Present Perfect Continuous.
Quick Review
- Form: have/has + been + verb(-ing) (affirmative, negative, interrogative).
- Use it for duration, present evidence, temporary habits, and complaints.
- Signal words: for, since, lately, recently, still, all day/week.
- Compare carefully with the Present Perfect Simple to highlight process vs. result.