Teaching English through e-learning

Present perfect simple and continuous

Form the present perfect continuous with has/have + been + -ing.

    John's been telling us about climate change.

    Have you been watching that new series on global warming?

Use the present perfect continuous to talk about an ongoing situation or action that started in the past and is still continuing.

    Sea levels have been rising.

    The climate has been getting warmer.

Compare this use of the present perfect continuous with the present perfect simple.

    We've been painting the house. (continuing action)

    We've painted the house. (completed action)

since, for and other time expressions

We often use since or for and expressions such as recently, over the last ..., etc. with the present perfect continuous to talk about an ongoing situation or action that started in the past and is still continuing. We've been studying climate change since the 1980s.