In this lesson, we'll delve into the perfect continuous tenses in English. The core concept of perfect continuous tense refers to continuing to do something until a certain point in time. The perfect continuous tense includes present perfect continuous tense, past perfect continuous tense, and future perfect continuous tense. In this lesson, we'll go through various examples and usage scenarios of perfect tenses. We are confident that by the end, you'll have a much clearer understanding of this grammatical concept.
Lesson Introduction
Part 1
Present Perfect Continuous
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Key Points |
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The Present Perfect Continuous Formula: has/have been +
present participle Present perfect continuous tense is used to show an action that began in the past and continues up until the present moment. It is formed using “has/have been + the present participle (the -ing form of the verb)”. For example, "I have been reading this book for two hours." |
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Subject + have/has been present participle + |
over/for/during + past period of time
so far/up to the present time/up to now |
We
have been looking at
houses over the past three months. We want to move out.
Ryan
has been looking for a
job during the past four months.
It
has been raining since
last week.
I have been waiting for the bus for an hour.
I am going to be late for work.
I've been working on
this report since eight o'clock this morning.
Mike
hasn't been feeling
well lately, so he took a day off school.
Brad
has been sneezing and
coughing the whole
day. He must have caught a cold from someone yesterday.
Over the past few years, I
have been reading at
least one book every month.
Past Perfect Continuous
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Key Points |
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The Past Perfect Continuous Formula: had been + present
participle Past perfect continuous tense is used to show an action that began and was occurring up until another action in the past. It is formed using “had been + the present participle”. For example, "I had been studying when my friend arrived." If you see a sentence structure like the following, it is using the past perfect continuous tense:
(1) Subject + had been + present participle +
until/before/by the time/when + subject + past verb |
Jane's roommate
had been cooking
dinner before Jane got back from work.
I
had been working part-time at a convenience store until I got a full-time job last May.
By the time Kate arrived home, she
had been driving for 5
hours.
I
had been feeling unwell
for a few days before I went to see the doctor.
She
had been working for
two hours when someone called.
▶️ Subject + past verb + because/since + subject + had been Ving
The traffic was bad last month because road construction
had been going on for
weeks.
We decided to buy a new car since our old one
hadn't been working for months.
Part 2
Future Perfect Continuous
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Key Points |
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The Future Perfect Continuous Formula: will have been +
present participle Future perfect continuous tense is used to show an action that will begin in the future and will continue up until a particular time in the future. It is formed using “will have been + present participle". For example, "I will have been working for eight hours by the time you arrive." |
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Subject + will have been Ving + for + time + |
by + future time |
I
will have been working
here for a year by July.
By the time I arrive home, I
will have been driving for 6 hours.
By this time next month, I will
have been preparing for
the TOEIC test for a year.
This case
will have been going on
for over a year before it is settled.
I
will have been training
for a marathon for three months by July.
She
will have been living in Taipei for one year next month.