Present Perfect Continuous Tense in English – Structure, Rules & Examples

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Introduction

In the previous unit, we have discussed the Present Perfect Tense in detail. We assume that you have learned the forms of verbs and their meanings in this unit and are also aware of What is Tense. if not, please click these links and learn them first.

This tense tells about the action which began in the past and is continuing in the present. This tense has thus a specific time mentioned. e.g. He has been playing GTA 5 since morning, They have been ordering Mi Phone from Amazon for a few days, etc.

In Hindi/Urdu, Present Perfect Continuous Tense ends with se raha hai, se rahi hai, se rhe hein. e.g. Wo kal se Khana kha raha hai.

In this tense, we use has been and have been and -ing form (present participle form) of the verb and mention time by using since or for.

Since & For

Before we move forward, let us understand the use of since and for. Since is used for point of time i.e. when we know the exact time, day, month, week, year, etc. e.g. since 9 O’Clock, since Wednesday, since January, since 2013, since morning, etc.

On the other hand, For is used for a period of time i.e. when we don’t know the exact time, date, week, month, year, etc. e.g. for 7 hours, for 9 days, for 4 weeks, for several months, for many years, etc. Please look at the following image for the recap.

Rule 1

Now that we have understood the use of since and for. Let us now understand the structure of the sentence in Present Perfect Continuous Tense.

In Present Perfect Continuous Tense, we use has with He, She, It and Name and -ing form of the verb (present participle form) and time by using since or for. Here is the basic structure of Present Perfect Continuous Tense:

Here are some more examples for you.

  1. Iran has been fighting with the USA for many years. (Iran USA se bhut saalo se lad rha hai)
  2. He has been downloading the movie since 07:00 AM. (Wo 7 baje se movies download kr raha hai)
  3. Basanti has been dancing for dogs since July. (Basanti July se kutto k liye naach rahi hai)
  4. It has been raining for 9 hours. (Barish 9 ghanto se ho rahi hai)
  5. Dhinchak Pooja has been singing raps since 2017. (Dhinchak Pooja 2017 se rap ga rahi hai)
  6. He has been using Sona Slim Belt for 8 months. (Wo 8 mahino se Sona Slim Belt istamal kr raha hai)
  7. She has been making Tiktok videos since last 2 years. (Wo pichle 2 Saalo se Tiktok video bana rahi hai)
  8. I have been doing my work for weeks. (mein kei hafto se apna kaam kar raha hu)
  9. He has been dancing on the road since morning. (Wo suba se road par nach raha hai)
  10. She has been making monkey faces on Snapchat since last year. (Wo pichle saal se Snapchat par bandariya ki shakal bana rahi hai)

Rule 2

In Present Perfect Continuous Tense, we use have with I, We, You, They and Plural Names and -ing form of the verb (present participle form) and time by using since or for. Here is the basic structure of Present Perfect Continuous Tense:

Here are some more examples for you.

  1. We have been creating new groups on Telegram since 2017. (Hum 2017 se WhatsApp par naye groups bana rahe hein)
  2. You have been telling lies for 10 minutes. (Ap 10 minutes se jhoot bol rahe hein)
  3. They have been playing PUBG since 7:00 PM. (Wo 7 baje se PUBG Khel rahe Hein)
  4. We have been selling Pakodas for 7 years. (Hum 7 saalo se pakodey bech rahe hein)
  5. You have been cooking rice since afternoon. (Ap dopeher se khana bana rahe ho)
  6. They have been asking questions for 2 months. (Wo 2 mahino se sawaal pooch rahe hein)
  7. We have been running since Tuesday. (Hum mangalwar se bhaag rahe hein)
  8. They have been sitting for 47 minutes. (We 47 minutes se beth rahe hein)
  9. You have been crying since evening. (Ap sham se ro rahe ho)
  10. We have been dancing for a few hours. (Hum kuch ghanto se naach rahe hein)

Rule 3

We bring has/have before He/She/It/I/We/You/They/It and Name while making questions in Present Perfect Continuous Tense. e.g.

Recap

Now that we have understood the basics of Present Perfect Continuous Tense, let us memorize what we have learned.

  1. In Present Perfect Continuous Tense, we use the Present Participle Form (-ing form) of Verb.
  2. We use has been and have been.
  3. Has been is used with He, She, It and Name of a person. (e.g. He has been ____, She has been ____, It has been ____, Sumaiyah has been ______).
  4. Have been is used with I, You, We and They. (I have___, You have been ____, We have been ____, They have been ____).
  5. This tense has a specific time mentioned. Hence we use since and for. Since is used for point of time (when we know the exact time, day, date, week, month, year, etc) and for is used for a period of time (when we don’t know the exact time, date, day, week, month, years etc)

Play Quiz

Play Quiz on Present Perfect Continuous Tense