Present perfect continuous

The point

Have or has been plus -ing stresses how long an activity has continued up to now. She has been working for two hours. A closed time such as yesterday does not fit.

Form and use

The present perfect continuous is have or has plus been plus an -ing form. It stresses how long an activity has been in progress up to now. The result of a finished act is the present perfect simple: she has written the note. The length of the activity is the continuous: she has been writing for an hour.

Read the full set. I have been working. You have been working. He has been working. She has been working. We have been working. They have been working. I have not been working. You have not been working. He has not been working. Have I been working? Have you been waiting? Has she been writing? Yes, I have. No, she has not. Yes, they have.

For and since answer how long. She has been working for two hours. They have been waiting since noon. A question about length starts with how long, then have or has, then the subject, then been, then the -ing form. How long have you been waiting? Do not drop been, and do not use a closed marker such as yesterday.

Stative verbs do not take this form. Know, like, believe, and own name a state, not an activity you watch in progress. She has known him for years, not she has been knowing him. Use the simple perfect for that state. Use the continuous only when the verb names an activity that can continue: wait, work, write, rain.

Don't translate it like this

Been plus the -ing form.

Short examples