Present perfect progressive

(continuous)
 Uses

The present perfect progressive (continuous) is used to

describe an event that started in the past but is still
happening in the present.
e.g.:

I have been living in this house for 40 years.

(I started living in it 40 years ago and I am still living in it today.)
 Uses

I have been climbing up this mountain for over two hours.

(I started climbing up it two hours ago and at this moment I’m still climbing.)
 Grammar structure.

Affirmative Sentences

Subject + has or have + been + verb in ing + Complement

have/has + been +
Subject Rest of sentence
verb ing

I / You / We /
have been sitting here for two hours.
They

He / She / It has been working at this company since April

 Grammar structure.

Negative Sentences

Subject + has or have (not) + been + verb in ing + Complement

Subject Aux. Verb (not) Been + Verb ing Rest of Sentence

I / You / We
haven’t (have not) been lying To Peter
/ They

He / She /
hasn’t (has not) been sleeping well since the accident
It
 Grammar structure.

Questions

has or have + Subject + been + verb in ing + Complement + ?

Auxiliary Verb Subject Been + Verb (ing) Rest of Sentence

Have I / you / we / they been working since this morning?

Has he / she / it been helping you to clean the house?

 Grammar structure.

Wh-Questions

Wh- word + has or have + Subject + been + verb in ing + Complement + ?

Typical wh- words: what/ where/ when/ why/ which/ who/ how/ how many/ how much.

Wh-Word Aux. Verb Subject Been + Verb (ing) Rest of Sentence

I / you / we /
What Have been doing Lately?
they

Why Has he / she / it been copying documents all day?

Make sentences in the
present perfect
continuous about the
pictures
Exercise
Bart has been writing on
the board
They have been travelling
She has
been
running
 He has
been
drinking
He has been working too much
They have been eating
Spelling of Verb + ING
For many verbs we make the ING
form by simply adding -ING to
end of the verb.

Eat  Eating
Speak  Speaking
Cook  Cooking
Start  Starting
Do  Doing
Verbs ending with - e
(with the exception of verbs ending in - ee and - ie)

Drop the - e and add ING

Hope  Hoping
Ride  Riding
Make  Making
Write  Writing
Verbs ending with - ee

Just add – ING

Agree  Agreeing
Flee  Fleeing
See  Seeing
Verbs ending with - ie

Change the -ie to -y and

add -ING

Die  Dying
Tie  Tying
Lie  Lying
Verbs ending with one vowel
and one consonant
(with the exception of w, x, and y)

For one syllable verbs

Double the consonant and add - ING

Jog  Jogging
Sit  Sitting
Run  Running
Stop  Stopping
Verbs ending with one vowel
and one consonant
(with the exception of w, x, and y)

For two syllable verbs

If the 1st syllable is stressed, just add - ING

Answer  Answering
Offer  Offering
Listen  Listening
Visit  Visiting
Verbs ending with one vowel
and one consonant
(with the exception of w, x, and y)

For two syllable verbs

If the 2nd syllable is stressed , double the
consonant and add - ING

Admit  Admitting
Prefer  Preferring
Begin  Beginning
Verbs ending with one vowel
and one consonant
(with the exception of w, x, and y)

For two syllable verbs

If the verb ends in a consonant + vowel + consonant, we
do not double the final consonant when the stress is on
the 1st syllable - ING
Happen  Happening
Enter  Entering
Offer  Offering
Suffer  Suffering
Verbs ending with W, X or Y

If the verb ends in W, X or Y, we do not double the

final consonant

Fix  Fixing
Enjoy  Enjoying
Stay  Staying
Snow  Snowing
Try  Trying
Verbs ending with - L

If the verb ends in consonant + vowel + L, we

normally double the final L and add – ING
ING from
(UK) (US)
Travel  Travelling  Traveling
Marvel  Marvelling  Marveling

Note: In the United States (US) they do not double the L when the
accent is on the first syllable.
 Since and For

SINCE

We use since to express the time when an action started.

e.g.
I have been watching TV since 5:00 p.m.
Tom has ran the marathon since he was 25 years old.
 Since and For

FOR

We use for to talk about a specific period of time.

e.g.
I have been sleeping for 20 minutes
She has had that house for 20 years
 Since or For

1) ________Easter

2) ________two weeks

3) ________my birthday

4) ________last summer

5) ________1999

6) ________ten days

7) ________a few minutes

8) ________1st April

9) ________a long time

10) ________6 o'clock