Present Perfect Continuous
Affirmative Form
Formation: Subject + Have / Has + Been + Gerund Verb + Complement
Subjects Example
I
You
He
She
It
We
You
They
I have been watching TV the whole afternoon.
You have been watching TV the whole afternoon.
He has been watching TV the whole afternoon.
She has been watching TV the whole afternoon.
It has been watching TV the whole afternoon.
We have been watching TV the whole afternoon.
You have been watching TV the whole afternoon.
They have been watching TV the whole afternoon.
Present Perfect Continuous Auxiliary Verbs
The Present Perfect Continuous tense has two auxiliary verbs. One of them is the verb HAVE.
Keep in mind that every Perfect tense has this verb as auxiliary verb. As it is a present tense,
we use HAVE for I, you, we, they; and HAS for she, he and it.
The other auxiliary verb is BEEN, the past participle form of the verb to be, (Remember that
every continuous tense has the verb to be as auxiliary verb), since we always use a past
participle form of a verb after the auxiliary verb HAVE/HAS.
To form the negative auxiliary for the present perfect tense, we need to write down NOT
between HAVE BEEN or HAS BEEN. There are short forms each of them.
When we form interrogative sentences, we put HAVE or HAS. just before the subject.
When we use present perfect continuous, contrary to the other simple verbal tenses that
we’ve already seen, we must use the auxiliary verb in all forms: affirmative, negative and
interrogative
Subject + Aux
I’ve not been
You’ve not been
He’s not been
She’s not been
It’s not been
We’ve not been
You’ve not been
They’ve not been
Aux + not
I haven’t been
You haven’t been
He hasn’t been
She hasn’t been
It hasn’t been
We haven’t been
You haven’t been
They haven’t been
Negative Form
Formation: Subject + Have / Has + Not + Been + Past Participle + Complement
Subjects Example
I
You
He
She
It
We
You
They
I have not been studying / I haven’t been studying / I’ve not been studying.
You have not been studying / You haven’t been studying / You’ve not been studying.
He has not been studying / He hasn’t been studying / He’s not been studying.
She has not been studying / She hasn’t been studying / She’s not been studying.
It has not been studying / It hasn’t been studying / It’s not been studying.
We have not been studying / We haven’t been studying/ We’ve not been studying.
You have not been studying / You haven’t been studying / You’ve not been studying.
They have not been studying / They haven’t been studying / They’ve not been studying.
