students talking in a class

A: How long have you been studying in this class?

B: I started in January, so I've been here for two months.

Present Perfect Continuous

have or has + been + verb ~ing

Positive & Negative Sentences

I
You
We
They		 have
have not
haven't

been

writing for many years

waiting for a long time.

studying since Monday.
He
She
It		 has
has not
hasn't

Questions

Have I
you
we
they

been

writing for many years?

waiting for a long time?

studying since Monday?
Has he
she
it

Use

How Long?

Another way to use the Present Perfect is to describe actions or situations that started in the past but are not finished. When we do this, we are often describing an action's duration: how long it has been happening. English speakers usually do this in the Present Perfect Continuous tense:

  • Mary has been working here since she was 22.
  • They have been studying English for two months.
  • I have been learning to play the piano for a while.

Simple or Continuous?

Do not use state verbs in the Present Perfect Continuous. Instead, use the Present Perfect Simple.

As studied in Grammar 2-2, some of the most common state verbs include:

  • be
  • believe
  • have
  • hate
  • know
  • like
  • love
  • need
  • own
  • understand
  • want

I have had a cold for two weeks.

She has been in England for six months.

We have known each other all our lives.

Either the simple or the continuous can be used when describing the duration of unfinished actions that happen regularly or usually. This includes things such as habits or routine-like activities. Common verbs that express this idea include play (the piano), work, teach, study, live, wear (glasses), etc.. 

I've worked / been working here since 1998.

I've played / been playing the piano for ten years.

I've worn / been wearing glasses since I was five years old.

Since & For

When describing the duration of unfinished actions or situations with the Present Perfect, we usually use for and since:

For + Period of Time

  • ...for two years.
  • ...for three months.
  • ...for a long time.
  • ...for many months.

Since + Start Time of Period

  • ...since November.
  • ...since 2008.
  • ...since 8:00am.
  • ...since January 17th.

Since can also be used with a clause in the Past Simple tense:

  • ...since I woke up this morning.
  • ...since you got here.
  • ...since I started working for this company.

As we will discuss more in Grammar 7-3, ago is not used with the Present Perfect because it is used to focus on a past time. There is no connection with the present with ago:

  • I have been in Canada since ten years ago for ten years.
  • We've been married since two months ago for two months.

How Much & How Many

When talking about how much, how many, or how many times something has happened, English speakers usually use the Present Perfect Simple:

I have been reading this book for two hours. I have read almost two hundred pages so far.

We have been shopping all afternoon. We've spent a lot of money.

John and I have been playing golf since 2 PM. We've played 16 holes.

Exercise

Open the exercise to begin the activity. Follow the instructions in the document.

Exercise

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