present perfect continuous tense

4. Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Present Perfect Continuous Tense is used to show that something started in the past and has continued up until now. ”for two hours’, ‘for two weeks’, ‘since yesterday’ are all durations which can be used with this sentence. Without the durations, the tense has a more general meaning of “lately.” We often use the words “lately” or “recently” to emphasize this meaning.

FORM:

(+) S + have/has + been + Verb-ing + O

ex: We have been practicing our English since Monday.

(-) S + have/has + been + Verb-ing + O

ex: We have not been practicing our English

(?) have/has + S + been + Verb-ing + O

ex: Have they been practicing their English?