Date: GUIDE # 04

Name:
Program:

PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

“If you really

want to do
something,
you'll find a way.
If you don't,
you'll find an
excuse."
PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

USE 1 Duration from the Past until Now

We use the Present Perfect Continuous to show that something started in the past and has
continued up until now. "For five minutes," "for two weeks," and "since Tuesday" are all durations
which can be used with the Present Perfect Continuous.

Examples:
 They have been talking for the last hour.
 She has been working at that company for three years.
 What have you been doing for the last 30 minutes?
 James has been teaching at the university since June.

USE 2 Recently, Lately

You can also use the Present Perfect Continuous WITHOUT a duration such as "for two weeks."
Without the duration, the tense has a more general meaning of "lately." We often use the words
"lately" or "recently" to emphasize this meaning.
Examples:
 Recently, I have been feeling really tired.
 She has been watching too much television lately.
  Have you been exercising lately?
 Mary has been feeling a little depressed.
 Lisa has not been practicing her English.

Practice Writing

1. Read the dialog and fill in the blanks using the Present Perfect Continuous and the
verb in brackets
Josh: Hello Chun, very nice to see you again! How much time has it been? Five years?
Chun: Yes, I think so. Good to see you, too!
Josh: You look so beautiful! What ________ you (do) ____________________________ ?
Chun: Well, I (travel) ________________________________ around the world, working as an air
hostess. What about you?
Josh: Awesome! I (work) ____________________________________ at an important law firm since I
graduated from high school.
Chun: What happened to Vicky? Did you marry her?
Josh: Yes, I did. We (live) _____________________________in Bogotá since then.
Chun: Ah! Congratulations! Please, say hello to her for me.
Josh: Very nice talking to you. I have to go, but let´s have lunch next week!
Chun: OK. Great idea!

2. Unscramble the sentences according to the conversation in the Exercise No 1

a. At / a / law / firm / working / been / has / He

_______________________________________________________________
b. since / our / graduation / He / has / been / Bogota / in / living
_______________________________________________________________
c. has / studying / since / law / been / He / 2010
_______________________________________________________________

3. Find 9 verbs in the word puzzle and write them in the box below adding –ing.

A B C D E F G H A
I J T R A V E L R
K L I M U N O P R
Q R E S T N U V I
P R E P A R E B V
W X Y T Z A L I E
C D A E F B U Y G
H H I J K L M N O
C P Q R M O V E S

1. __Chatting___ 2. ______________ 3. ______________ 4. ______________

5. _____________ 6. ______________ 7. ______________ 8. ______________ 9.

______________

4. Complete the sentences using “have” or “has” and verbs from exercise 3.

 My neighbors __have__ been _moving_ to their new house since last week.

 You _________ been ______________ by car around the country

 Joe _________ been ______________ every day at the park
  My brother and I _________ been ______________ late for class since the beginning of the
semester.
 Jessica _________ been ______________ her school presentation.

 Sophie and Louis _________ been ______________ books for own new library.
 Nelson _________ been ______________ with his friend Tina for one hour.
 The thief _________ been ______________ to the police all morning.
 Carol _________ been ______________ all week in her house. She didn´t go to work.

5. Look at the pictures and write sentences using the “Present Perfect Continuous”
and the given words.

a. They / play / all

b. They / dance / all night

________________________
________________________
________________________

d. Jhon / write / novel / all

c. The baby / cry / all night month

________________________ ________________________

________________________ ________________________

________________________ ________________________

6. Match the questions with the answers below.

a. What have you been doing?
b. How long have you been working?
c. What have you been reading?
d. Have you been traveling
e. Have you studied any foreign language
___ I have been working for ten hours.
___ I have been studying.
___ Yes, I have. I have studied Portuguese
___ I have been reading a novel.
___ Yes, I have.

7. Look at the pictures and complete the sentences. Use the “Present Perfect
Continuous”
They ___________________
I _______________________
________________________
________________________
________________________
________________________
for half an hour.
English since last week

It ______________________
He _____________________
________________________ ________________________

________________________ ________________________

very hard this week. all day

8. Find the mistakes in the followings sentences and correct them

 I have be working all day ________________________________________

 She been sleeping all afternoon ________________________________________
 We have decorating our house for Christmas ________________________________________
 Have you been study? ________________________________________
 He have been reading my book ________________________________________