Present+Perfect+Continuous

=Present Perfect Continuous Tense=
 * **I //have been singing//** ||

How do we make the Present Perfect Continuous Tense?
The structure of the present perfect continuous tense is: has ||  || been ||   || base + ing || Here are some examples of the present perfect continuous tense:
 * subject || + || auxiliary verb || + || auxiliary verb || + || main verb ||
 * ||  || have
 * || **subject** || **auxiliary verb** ||  || **auxiliary verb** || **main verb** ||   ||
 * + || I || have ||  || been || waiting || for one hour. ||
 * + || You || have ||  || been || talking || too much. ||
 * - || It || has || not || been || raining. ||  ||
 * - || We || have || not || been || playing || football. ||
 * ? || Have || you ||  || been || seeing || her? ||
 * ? || Have || they ||  || been || doing || their homework? ||

Contractions
When we use the present perfect continuous tense in speaking, we often contract the subject and the first auxiliary. We also sometimes do this in informal writing. She has been It has been John has been The car has been || He's been She's been It's been John's been The car's been || Here are some examples:
 * I have been || I've been ||
 * You have been || You've been ||
 * He has been
 * We have been || We've been ||
 * They have been || They've been ||
 * I've been reading.
 * The car's been giving trouble.
 * We've been playing tennis for two hours.

How do we use the Present Perfect Continuous Tense?
This tense is called the **present** perfect continuous tense. There is usually a connection with the **present** or now. There are basically two uses for the present perfect continuous tense:

We use the present perfect continuous tense to talk about an **action** that started in the past and stopped recently. There is usually a result **now**. || !!! ||  || ||
 * I'm tired because I've been running. ||
 * **past** || **present** || **future** ||
 * Recent action. || Result now. ||  ||
 * I'm tired [now] because I**'ve been running**.
 * Why is the grass wet [now]? **Has** it **been raining**?
 * You don't understand [now] because you **have**n't **been listening**.

We use the present perfect continuous tense to talk about an **action** that started in the past and is continuing **now**. This is often used with **for** or **since**. ||  || ||
 * I have been reading for 2 hours. ||
 * **past** || **present** || **future** ||
 * Action started in past. || Action is continuing now. ||  ||
 * I **have been reading for** 2 hours. [I am still reading now.]
 * We**'ve been studying since** 9 o'clock. [We're still studying now.]
 * How long **have** you **been learning** English? [You are still learning now.]
 * We **have** not **been smoking**. [And we are not smoking now.]

For and Since with Present Perfect Continuous Tense
We often use **for** and **since** with the present perfect tense. || || x || || || Here are some examples:
 * We use **for** to talk about a **period** of time - 5 minutes, 2 weeks, 6 years.
 * We use **since** to talk about a **point** in past time - 9 o'clock, 1st January, Monday.
 * for || since ||
 * **a period of time** || **a point in past time** ||
 * 20 minutes || 6.15pm ||
 * three days || Monday ||
 * 6 months || January ||
 * 4 years || 1994 ||
 * 2 centuries || 1800 ||
 * a long time || I left school ||
 * ever || the beginning of time ||
 * etc || etc ||
 * I have been studying **for** 3 hours.
 * I have been watching TV **since** 7pm.
 * Tara hasn't been feeling well **for** 2 weeks.
 * Tara hasn't been visiting us **since** March.
 * He has been playing football **for** a long time.
 * He has been living in Bangkok **since** he left school.
 * For** can be used with all tenses. **Since** is usually used with perfect tenses only.

Reference and quiz: []

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