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Present perfect continuous

 THE PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

The name of this tense can sort of make one believe it to be something complicated. There is nothing so very intricate or scaring about it.

First let us see how one is supposed to write this tense accurately.

It is simple. Just write---- has/have + been + -ing form of the given verb.

Having got this clear now we need to know when one should use this tense while speaking and writing.

Suppose you wish to talk or write of an action which happened to begin sometime in the past and since then has been continuously taking place and now also it is taking place (or completed just now) then we must use the Present Perfect Continuous Tense.

We often use this tense with SINCE ( to refer to the point of time from when the action began ) or FOR (to refer to for how long the action has been taking place).

Let's have a go at some examples!

1 She ___________ (sing) thus __________ (since/for) thirty minutes.

The Present Perfect Continuous Tense for this example is obviously has (which agrees with the subject - She) + been + singing

Obviously for is the answer as thirty minutes is ‘amount' of time and certainly not ‘a point of time'.

2 I ____________ (teach) in this school______________ (since/for) 2011.

The Present Perfect Continuous Tense for this example is obviously have (since it agrees with the subject I) + been + teaching

In this case evidently since is the answer for the second blank as 2011 is clearly ‘point of time'

One huge blunder one could commit is to say or write the below given sentence:-

I am working since morning.

While 'since' has been used correctly the sentence is grammatically wrong simply because you can't use since thus with the Present Continuous Tense (IT IS USED FOR AN ACTION HAPPENING NOW).

Since and for must be used either with the Present Perfect Tense or the Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Let's consider the following sentences:-

1 He has served in this institution for some ten years. The tense used is the Present Perfect Tense.What does this sentence mean? It means he has already completed ten years of his service in the institution and is still serving it or maybe it is time for him to hang his boots i.e. the time has come for him to retire from service.

2 He has been serving in this institution for some ten years. The tense used here is obviously the Present Perfect Continuous Tense. What does this mean? He has been serving this institution for the past ten years and he continues to do so even now!

3 He served in this institution for ten years. The tense used in this example is the Simple Past Tense. What does this sentence tell us? Obviously it refers to a past action. It tells us that there was a time when he worked for this institution and he did so all in all for some ten years.

Well, I believe this, much discussion will do fine and now for an exercise on this tense (you  need to just successfully write the Present Perfect Tense viz.

has/have + been + -ing form of the given verb ).

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English exercise "Present perfect continuous" created by sreedhar with The test builder. [More lessons & exercises from sreedhar]
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1. It (rain) cats and dogs for some ten hours now--no wonder the city wears a flooded look.

2. He (practise) mathematics like one possessed since morning.

3. You (laugh) like an utter nitwit for the past few minutes! Just what's wrong with you?

4. They (brainstorm) since morning and yet seemed to have got nowhere as far as their problem is concerned.

5. The old man (dig) for some five hours now! Golly ! He's quite a sturdy old man!

6. We (wrangle) over something trivial since 10 AM and now it is 1AM and I am just exhausted!

7. They (dwell) at this place for some forty years! That speaks volumes for the affinity they have for this place!

8. The driver (blow) the horn for some five minutes now but he just can't wake up the folks who have hired him!

9. Peter (fritter) away his precious time doing precious little for months!

10. Paul and Pamela (swot) up on their French for weeks now and are quite proficient in its use now.

11. He (swear) like a trooper since morning! Wonder what has irked him so ?

12. You (strive) hard for achieving your goal for years and I am sure you'll soon taste sweet success!