PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

STATEMENTS

Subject Have (not) BeenBase form

Of verb + -ing (since / for)

I WeYou They

have (not)

been writingsince 2004for years

He She

Ithas (not)

YES / NO QUESTIONS

Have Subject BeenBase form

Of verb + -ing (since / for)

Have you been writing since 2004?for years?

Has he

SHORT ANSWERS

Affirmative Negative

Yes, I / we haveNo,

I / we haven’t

he has he hasn’t

PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

Elephants have been living on the earth for many years

I have been reading this book since Monday

Garcia Marquez has been writing books since he was youngShe’s been working in this

company for a year

PRESENT PERFECT

They have lived in Africa for many years

I have read two books about elephants

Garcia Marquez has written many books

She’s worked in many companies

GRAMMAR NOTES EXAMPLES

1. The present perfect progressive often shows that something is unfinished. It started in the past and is still continuing. The emphasis in on the continuation of the action.

The present perfect often shows that something is finished. The main emphasis is on the result of the action.

- I’ve been reading a book about elephants. (I’m still reading it)

- She’s been writing an article. (She’s still writing it)

- I’ve written an article about elephants. (I finished the article)

- She’s read a book about elephants.(she has finished the book)

2. We often use the present perfect progressive to talk about how long something has been happening.

We often used the present perfect to talk about:

- how much someone has done

- how many things someone has done

- how many times someone has done something

- I’ve been reading books about ufos for two months.

- She’s been writing an article. (She’s still writing it)

- I’ve read a lot about ufos.

- She’s written three articles.

- I’ve read that book twice.

3. Sometimes you can use the present perfect progressive or the present perfect . The meaning is basically the same. This is especially true with verbs such as live, study, teach, and work with for or since.

Usage notes

We often use the present perfect progressive to show that something is temporary.

We use the present perfect to show that something is permanent.

- She’s been studying African elephants for three years.

- She’s studied African elephants for three years.

- They’ve been living here since 1995 but they are moving next month.

- They’ve lived here since they were children. They’ve always lived here.