The present perfect tense & the present perfect continuous

Both the present perfect and the present perfect continuous tenses are used to
talk about things that started in the past, but continue into, or are relevant to
(have consequences in) the present. For example:

“I have been playing hockey all my life.” (action continues)

“Mark has lived in Cleveland for three years.” (continues)
“Dave has been drinking all day.” (consequences in the present)
“They have solved the problem!” (consequences in the present)

However, the present perfect continuous is normally used to stress that the
action is not yet finished.

Both of these tenses are used to say that something happened before
something else.

The simple present perfect is formed by putting the present tense of the verb “to
have” before the past participle. It refers to past actions, though we usually don
´t specify the time.

“I have finished all my work.”

“Have you learned a lot at the university?”
“Our basketball team has lost all of its games this year.”

The present perfect continuous is formed by putting the present tense of the
verb “to have” in front of “been” and the present participle (the “-ing” form of the
verb.)

“Susan hasn't been eating lunch lately.”

“We have been spending too much money.”
“They have been playing all day.”

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The past perfect tense also has simple and continuous tenses. They are
formed just like the present perfect tenses, except that they use the past tense
of the verb “to have.”

“I had seen that movie before he told me about it.” (simple)

“Had you broken your arm before?” (simple)
“Stan had been using a belt to hold up his pants, but he lost it.”
(continuous)
“We had dieted for two months without losing even one pound.” (simple)
“They haven't been reading the books we gave them.” (continuous)