PRESENT TENSE 2

PERFECT OR PERFECT CONTINUOUS?

(1) Choose the best option.
a. I have been studying/studied Maths since my childhood.
b. Rama has spent/been spending the whole night reading.
c. My parents have always known/been knowing about my abilities in sports.
d. Dinesh has been trying/tried hard to get a good job for few months but with no
result.
e. What has Ramesh been doing/done these days? Anything special?
f. My uncle has bought/been buying a new luxury car. It looks fabulous.
g. Most of the Indians have never been believing/believed in live-in relationships.
h. It is good that my friends have been agreeing/agreed to my proposal.
i. Sanjana is in very good shape. She has been taking/taken exercises daily.
j. Chunnu is not in house. He has been playing/played all day.
k. Learning Sanskrit is an uphill task for me. I have never been
understanding/understood it.
l. I have always been liking/liked old Hindi songs since my childhood.
m. Dhruv has been singing/sung for two hours.
n. We have painted/been painting the wall.
o. Pulkit has been working/worked all day.
(2) Find the correct sentence in each pair given below.
a. Payal looks very wet. Has she swum?
b. Payal looks very wet. Has she been swimming?
c. The teacher has been looking for Anjali everywhere. Where is she?
d. The teacher has looked for Anjali everywhere. Where is she?
e. Aman looks so tired. What has he done?
f. Aman looks so tired. What has he been doing?
g. I am very sorry for being late. How long have you been waiting for me here?
h. I am very sorry for being late. How long have you waited for me here?
i. Vikas has been running five kilometers!
j. Vikas has run five kilometers!
(3) Complete the following sentences. Use the correct form of the
verbs in brackets.(Either present perfect or present perfect continuous) If two
forms are possible, write both.
a. You _____ (be) very busy in your office this morning.
b. I _____ (remember) you for a long time.
c. Rajiv _____ (has) a bad dream.
d. Indian Shooters _____ (perform) very well in the recent time.
e. I _____ (finish) my work. I am completely free now.
ANSWERS
(1) a. been studying (A)
b. spent (B)
c. known (B)
d. been trying (A)
e. been doing (A)
f. bought (B)
g. believed (C)
h. agreed (C)
i. been taking (A)
j. been playing (A)
k. understood (C)
 l. liked (C)
m. been singing (A)
n. painted/been painting (D)
o. been working/worked (D)
(2) The correct sentences are as below:-
b (A)
c (A)
f (A)
g (A)
j (B)
(3) a. have been (A)
b. have remembered (B)
c. has had/has been having (D)
d. have been performing (A)
e. have finished (B)
EXPLANATION
(A) When the activity is important or when the activity is still going on, you should use the
present perfect continuous tense.
(B) When the result of a completed activity is important, you should use the present perfect
simple tense.
(C) Some verbs are not usually used in the progressive forms e.g. understand, agree, like,
believe, know etc. You should use the present perfect simple tense (not present perfect
continuous).
(D) Sometimes it doesn’t really matter whether you should use the present perfect simple or
present perfect continuous. Both have the similar meaning.