When the perfect continuous is used. Present Perfect Continuous - rules for making sentences and examples. Present perfect continuous values

The Present Perfect Continuous is a seemingly paradoxical phenomenon in English: how can an action be both completed and ongoing? Let's take a look at a specific example:

In the example above, we considered an action that had been going on for some time, starting at some point in the past, and had just ended. From the times of the Continuous group, this form received a mandatory duration of action, and from the times of the Perfect group - the presence of some result from the completed action (in our case, these are raw leaves, grass and soil).

However, situations are possible when an action that has lasted up to the present moment does not end, but continues further. In such situations, Present Perfect Continuous is also used, but the duration of the action is usually indicated up to the present moment, for example:

In this case, the indicated duration of action is a significant result for the present.

Affirmative sentence

The structure of the sentence in Present Perfect Continuous is based on a combination of elements of those temporary groups that are included in the name: present indicates that the first (and main) auxiliary will be in the present tense, Perfect- to the fact that this auxiliary verb will be, and then the third form of a certain verb will follow, and Continuous - to the fact that in the third form there will be a verb to be, followed by a semantic verb with the ending -ing. The result is the following construction scheme:

have/has been Ving

Here are some examples of affirmative sentences with the predicate in the present perfect continuous tense:

Negation

When constructing a negative sentence in this tense form, it should be remembered that the particle not added to the first auxiliary verb ( haven't/hasn't). Let's trace this phenomenon on specific examples:

Due to the specifics of this tense form, its use in negative sentences is somewhat limited by a narrow context.

Questions

General issues with a predicate in this tense form are built by transferring the auxiliary verb to the first place:

When building special question a question word is added to the same scheme, which will take the first place in the sentence:

Question to the subject also begins with a question word - Who (who) orWhat (what)- but in this case it replaces the subject, plays its role, so there can be no other subject in the sentence, and the words line up in the following scheme:

Alternative question provides for a choice between two or more options, expressed by conjunction o r/or and is constructed in the same way as the general question:

The question is a “label” necessary to express doubt about the content of a particular sentence, also called dividing question, is constructed using the auxiliary verb haven't/hasn't for affirmative and have/has for negative sentences, followed by the appropriate subject expressed by a personal pronoun:

... affirmative ...,haven't/hasn't +SP?	It has been snowing isn't it?	It's snowed, right?
	Maria has been learning English for two years, hasn't she?	Maria has been learning English for two years now, hasn't she?
	Tom has been smoking too much recently, hasnt he?	Tom smokes too much lately, doesn't he?
…negative…,have/has+SP?	You haven't been looking for us have you?	You weren't looking for us, were you?
	Ann hasn't been working for two hours, has she?	Ann hasn't been working for two hours, has she?
	The girls haven't been swimming, have they?	The girls didn't swim, did they?

Use

As mentioned above, the predicate in Present Perfect Continuous expresses an action that began in the past, lasted for some time, and either ended just now or continues, but in such a situation its duration is indicated:

The need to use the Present Perfect Continuous tense in a sentence is often indicated by marker words - prepositions since(c; since) and for(during, during).

Often confusion is caused by controversial situations of choosing the use of the Present Perfect and Present Perfect Continuous tenses. In order to avoid misunderstandings, let's consider the difference in the use of these two similar tenses using specific examples:

Present Perfect	Present Perfect Continuous
the action is completed, and this creates a certain result in the present	the action has lasted until now, and it is this duration that is important
The walls in the room were white. Now they are orange. Tom has painted them.	Tom's clothes are covered in paint. He has been painting his room.
The walls in the room were white. Now they are orange. Tom painted them.	Tom's clothes are covered in paint. He painted his room.
the result is important - painted walls, no matter how much time was spent on the painting process	it doesn’t matter if the room is painted to the end, that is, the result is not important, but the duration is important, which led to stained clothes

The Present Perfect Continuous tense, although limited to a narrow context, is found quite often in live English speech, proving the fact that situations in which it is the duration of the action that is important are quite widespread.

Education Present Perfect Continuous

Present Perfect Continuousformed with an auxiliary verb to be in the Present Perfect form ( have been, has been) and present participles of the semantic verb - Present Participle (ing-form)

Interrogative form Present Perfect Continuous formed by placing the first auxiliary verb before the subject, and the rest of the tense form after the subject, and negative- with the particle -not, which is placed after the first auxiliary verb.

affirmative form		Interrogative form		negative form
... + have/has been + IV		Have/Has...been + IV ?		... have/has not been + IV
I have(=I"ve)been playing. I play.(already with...)		Have I've been playing? I AMplaying?		I have not(=I haven't)been playing. I do not play.
	has been playing =(..."s been playing )	Has	been playing?		has not been playing =(hasn't been playing)
	have been playing =(..."ve been playing )	Have	been playing?		have not been playing =(haven"t been playing)

Meaning and usage of Present Perfect Continuous

1) Present Perfect Continuous Tense used to express a long-term action that began in the past and is still being done at the present time. In this case, the period during which the action is performed is always indicated. The duration of the action is indicated by the circumstances type for(during), for a long time, all day, all day long, how long, and the beginning of the action- turnovers with a preposition since(since, since) - since 1987, since five o'clock.

Usage examples for the present perfect continuous:

How long have you been doing bodybuilding? - How long have you been bodybuilding

I "ve been doing bodybuilding for six years already - I have been bodybuilding for 6 years

How long have you been living here? - How long have you been living here

We "ve been living here for a year only. - We've only lived here for one year.

I "ve been living in England since 1955. - I have lived in England since 1955

2) Present Perfect Continuous can be used without specifying the duration of action, if it is clear from the context that the action began in the past and has continued (or continues) to the present.

Do not pay attention to my dirty face

I "ve been repairing my car - I am fixing my car

Why are your eyes red? - Why do you have red eyes?

I "ve been cutting onions. - I cut onions

You are not well today. You look distressed. You have been weeping You are not well today. You look unhappy. you cried

3) With verbs that are not used in the continuous form, in the meaning of Present Perfect Continuous are used Present Perfect forms.

4) If we are talking about the action of the usual, constant, characteristic of the subject, i.e. which takes place in general, and not at the moment of speech, then when indicating the duration of the action, along with Present Perfect Continuous, Present Perfect is used. The use of Present Perfect Continuous emphasizes the duration of the action, while Present Perfect emphasizes the fact of the action:

Has not been living in Moscow for five years = He has lived in Moscow for five years - He has been living in Moscow for (already) five years.

Often there is almost no difference between Present Perfect and Present Perfect Continuous in this meaning.:

I "ve worked for the same company for twelve years. -

I "ve been working for the same company for twelve years. - I worked for the company for 12 years

But in the sentences below, the difference between Present Perfect Tense and Present Perfect Continuous Tense is cardinal: a sentence with Present Perfect shows the completion of the action; Present Perfect Continuous indicates the duration, incompleteness of the action:

I "ve been watching TV show (= I haven't finished it). - I am watching a program (i.e. I am in the process).

I "ve watched TV show (= I" ve finished it). - I watched the show. (I've finished watching it.)

I "ve been learning Spanish all afternoon. - I study Spanish all day.

I "ve learned Spanish (= I know it). - I learned Spanish. (I know him.)

5) The Present Perfect Continuous Tense is also used to express an action that lasted for a certain period of time, but ended immediately before the moment of speech and is associated with the present time with its result. The period of time during which the action took place may or may not be specified. In these cases, Present Perfect Continuous is translated into Russian by the past tense of the imperfective verb:

She's been crying. (Her eyes are red). - She was crying (for a long time). (She has red eyes.)

look! It has been snowing. (The ground is all white). - Look! It's snowing (for a long time). (The whole earth is white.)

Slowly but surely moving through the system of times, we have already managed to understand how peculiar the perception of time is by the British. And today we, as Russian speakers, will have to combine in our understanding two incompatible things: completeness and continuity, occurring simultaneously in the present tense. These processes are united by one aspect - the present perfect continuous, examples of which are quite common in English speech. We will analyze constructions, study situations of use and consider examples of sentences taken from everyday communication.

Let us briefly outline the essence of this aspect, disassembling it into its component parts.

Continius indicates that some phenomenon/event/action is in process at the moment of speech, and the perfect is called upon to express a certain result of events or a desire for it. The presentation closes both of these actions within the framework of the present tense. In total, we get: the action has already been taking place for some time, because. there are certain results, but it has not yet been completed at the time of this conversation, or it has literally just ended.

They have been repaired this car for two daysTheyare repairingthiscaralreadytwodays. — (but not yet repaired, and therefore will continue to repair it further)

Having formed a general understanding of the meaning, let's move on to grammar and give examples of sentences for the present perfect continuous.

Statements

Affirmative sentences in the present perfect continuous have a compound predicate that consists of three parts. The first is the indicator of perfection in the present tense - have (for 3 l. - has), followed by the exponent of being has been and closes the combination of the real participle (participle I). Note that the first element has a different form for 3rd person nouns and pronouns.

my mother(1) has (2) been (3) learning (4)Polish language for a month(5) – MyMotherteachesPolishlanguagealreadymonth.

We have been growing this kind of flowers for 10 years alreadyWewe growthisgradecolorsalready 10years.
I have been waiting for a new season of my favorite TV series for a long time –I AMI am waitingexitnewseasonhisbelovedTV seriesalreadylongtime.

When translating this aspect into Russian, imperfective verbs are used.

General Questions and Denials

To give interrogative or negative shades, it is necessary to carry out small transformations with the first element of the structure. In the question have/has is taken to the first place, leaving the rest of the predicate. Negation, on the other hand, requires attaching the particle not to have/has, which in this way wedged into the compound predicate.

My girlfriend(1)has(2)not(3)been(4)answering(5) my calls since last night (6)Myfriendnotanswerson themycallsWithlastnight.

Daniel and Susan have not been living together for a few monthsDanielandSusannotlivetogetheralreadyseveralmonths.

Along with the official construction have / has not, the abbreviated forms haven't and hasn't are also used.

We haven't been learning German for a long timeWenotteachDeutschalreadylongtime.
I haven 't been meeting withmyrelativessince2013 - I haven't met my relatives since 2013.

We have considered the general types of sentences, but sometimes it becomes necessary to express in English more specific contexts. Let's analyze them separately.

Special interrogative and negative constructions

English grammar has divided interrogative sentences into several types.

Alternative constructions are created using the union or, and have the order of the general question.

Has he been studying play a guitar since this summer or since last summer? -Heto studyplayon theguitarWiththissummerorWithof the pastsummer?
Have they been walking in the forest for an hour or for a half hour already? -Theywalkvforestalreadyhourorhalf an hour?

That's all, see you in the next class!

And once again about the present ...

Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Present Perfect Continuous- present perfect continuous tense. Sometimes in Russian it is called "present perfect continuous".

Present Perfect Continuous is used to express an action that has lasted a certain amount of time up to the present moment (and possibly will continue for some time). Actually, this time essentially includes the formal signs of two times: perfect and long (hence the name).

You may notice that there is quite a lot in common between Present Perfect and Present Perfect Continuous. However, there is still a difference. Compare:

Tina has traveled a lot late. Tina has been traveling a lot lately. (maybe she doesn't travel anymore).
Tina has been traveling a lot late. Tina has been traveling a lot lately. (and probably continues to travel)

The formation of time:
Present perfect continuous tense formed using the auxiliary verb have / (has - for the 3rd person singular) + been + ing to the verb. For instance:

I have been trying to contact him for a couple of hours. Where can he be now? - I AM trying contact him for several hours. Where can he be now?

In interrogative sentences, the auxiliary verb comes first:
Have you been trying to contact him? Are you trying to contact him?

In negative sentences, we add a particle not to the auxiliary verb:
I have not been trying to contact him. - I'm not trying to contact him.

Using Present Perfect Continuous

To express an action that started in the past and is still going on:
I have been working for Microsoft since 1999. - I've been with Microsoft since 1999.
To express an action that lasted in the past and just completed:
Your eyes are red. Have you been crying? - You have red eyes. What were you crying?
With "how long":
how long have you been waiting for me? - How long have you been waiting for me?

Just as in the case of the Present Perfect, the action of the semantic verb in Present Perfect Continuous usually specified in terms of either beginning (since) or duration (for). It is also possible to use more general circumstances of time, such as recently (recently) or recently (lately).

Finally, we got to the most interesting English times - Perfect Continuous. And if you conscientiously read the previous articles, then these two words separately no longer cause you tremulous horror. Based on the name, you already understand that such times should combine all the advantages of both perfect (Perfect) and continuous (Continuous) time. That is, they all express an action that, at a certain moment, has already lasted for some time (or continues to last, or even has already ended).

In general, it is this time that the English-speaking people of our planet love the most. Consider yourself lucky. Because if you are in doubt what to take - just Perfect or Perfect Continuous, then in most cases it is better to choose the second.

We remember Continuous: what auxiliary verb can we do without? Yes, without to be. And also the verb with the ending -ing.

Now we remember Perfect. What verb can we do without? Yes, without to have.

And now let's go:

1. Present Perfect Continuous

It is used to indicate an action that began in the past and is still ongoing (or has already ended by the time of the conversation):
“When I returned home at 3 am, she had long been standing at the threshold of the door with a frying pan prepared for the occasion”.

Markers: for, since, by.

. The affirmative form is formed with have/has been+ main verb with ending -ing:
She has been waiting for me since 11 p.m.

. Negative form: have/has + not + been + verb with -ing.
They have not been eating for 6 hours.

. Interrogative form:
Has she been reading?

2. Past Perfect Continuous

Used to refer to an action that ended at a certain point in the past or completed before the onset of a later action in the past:
"He studied for 20 years before he met her and decided to marry."

. Markers: by, for, still.

. Affirmative form: had been+ verb-ing.
His hands were dirty as he had been working for 2 hours.

. Negative form: had+not+been+verb -ing.
They had not been playing since yesterday.

. Interrogative form: Had he been working?

3. Future Perfect Continuous

Denotes an action that will end at a certain point in the future:
“When I get home, you won’t have so much fun anymore.”

. Markers: for, by, until.

. Affirmative form: will/shall + have been + verb with -ing.
I will have been looking at you until you decide to give me a smile.

. Negative form: will/shall + not + have been + verb with -ing.
She will not have been waiting for him up to morning.

. Interrogative form: Will you have been working?

The most difficult thing in this group of times is education. After all, you need to use to have in the correct form, and the auxiliary verb to be in the third form, and add to the main verb -ing. But a little practice, and this will be all right, because from a dozen years ago, the English alphabet inspired a wave of horror on you, didn’t it?