Structure of Present Perfect Continuous Tense
|
Affirmative |
subject + has been/ have been+V4
+object |
James has been eating rice. |
|
Negative |
subject + has not been/have not
been +V4+object |
James has not
been eating rice. |
|
Interrogative |
Has/Have + subject+ been+V4
+object? Wh + has/have + subject+ been+V4 +object? |
Has James been eating rice?
What has James been eating? |
|
Passive |
No
Passive |
|
The Present Perfect Continuous is used:
(a) For an action that began at some time in the past and is still continuing:
ü John
has been working on this project since May.
ü How
long has he been shopping in the bus park?
ü They
have been singing since 5 o'clock.
ü She
has been telephoning me all this afternoon.
(b) With lately, so far, by now, since, for:
ü He
has been living here for three weeks.
ü They
have been working hard lately.
ü What
have you been doing recently?
Note: It often occurs, with 'since + point of time,'
for +period of time'.