Present perfect simple and continuous
Look at these examples to see how the present perfect simple and continuous are used.
We've painted the bathroom.
She's been training for a half-marathon.
I've had three coffees already today!
They've been waiting for hours.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
We use both the present perfect simple (have or has + past participle) and the present perfect continuous (have or has + been + -ing form) to talk about past actions or states which are still connected to the present.
Focusing on result or activity
The present perfect simple usually focuses on the result of the activity in some way, and the present perfect continuous usually focuses on the activity itself in some way.
| Present perfect simple | Present perfect continuous |
|---|---|
| Focuses on the result | Focuses on the activity |
| You've cleaned the bathroom! It looks lovely! | I've been gardening. It's so nice out there. |
| Says 'how many' | Says 'how long' |
| She's read ten books this summer. | She's been reading that book all day. |
| Describes a completed action | Describes an activity which may continue |
| I've written you an email. | I've been writing emails. |
| When we can see evidence of recent activity | |
| The grass looks wet. Has it been raining? I know, I'm really red. I've been running! |
Ongoing states and actions
We often use for, since and how long with the present perfect simple to talk about ongoing states.
How long have you known each other?
We've known each other since we were at school.
We often use for, since and how long with the present perfect continuous to talk about ongoing single or repeated actions.
How long have they been playing tennis?
They've been playing tennis for an hour.
They've been playing tennis every Sunday for years.
Sometimes the present perfect continuous can emphasise that a situation is temporary.
I usually go to the gym on the High Street, but it's closed for repairs at the moment so I've been going to the one in the shopping centre.
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
๐ซ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ป๐๐ธ๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ป๐๐ธ๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ฎ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ?
๐ญ-๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ๐๐:
A๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฏ๐ (dynamic verbs) to talk about situations that ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ต and ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฑ or ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฑ.
๐-๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐๐:
-You look completely exhausted. ๐๐๐ซ๐ you ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ all the way back from town?
-The car wheels are covered in mud. ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ the wrong road?
-There is a clattering of plates in the kitchen. Who'๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ?
๐-๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ (Continuous Actions)
-It ๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ญ๐๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ longer to get there due to rush-hour traffic.
-You should ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง๐ the building ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต in order to notice the burglary attempts.
-She ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด for the bus to arrive ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด.
๐-๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐งs:
-๐๐๐ฏ๐ you ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐ in Egypt ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด ?
-I ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ her every ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ.
-She ๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ญ๐๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ her son to school ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.
๐- ๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ (๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐๐) ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ:
-๐๐๐ฏ๐ you ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ฐ๐๐ญ๐๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ TV all night? ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ณ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๐ฅ!
-๐๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ง๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ข๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ, and now the car ๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐๐ in mud.
- It seems that you ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด more diligently than we had imagined, so you ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐บ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด a contribution that deserves thanks.
๐ฒ-๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป:
-I ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ to the audio feedbacks since 8 PM.
-๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ you ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐๐๐ฑ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด English?
-It ๐๐๐จ ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐จ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฌ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ด๐ช๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.
๐-๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐๐๐ญ, ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ แดส ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ฎ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ?
A-๐๐๐ฏ๐ you bฬดeฬดeฬดnฬด ฬดbฬดuฬดyฬดiฬดnฬดgฬด your English book ๐ฒ๐๐ญ?
-The verb " ๐๐ฎ๐ฒ " is a single, completed action : It is not a permanent state in the past.
-"๐๐ฒ๐" asks if the action has been completed up to now.
๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐:
--> ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ you ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ your English book yet?
B-It hฬดaฬดsฬด ฬดnฬดeฬดvฬดeฬดrฬด been raining at all this summer.
"๐ฝ๐๐๐๐ โ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
-->It ๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ง'๐ญ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ at all this summer.
C-We'ฬดvฬดeฬด ฬดbฬดeฬดeฬดnฬด ฬดhฬดaฬดtฬดiฬดnฬดgฬด the city nose.
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ (like, love, hate, know, want, need, feel, think, want...) ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ข ๐๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐.
-->Weโ๐ฏ๐ ๐ก๐๐ญ๐๐ the city nose.
D-We've has been hฬดaฬดvฬดiฬดnฬดgฬด ฬด this car for years.
"๐ท๐๐๐โ ๐๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ (๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐) ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐.
-->Weโ๐ฏ๐ ๐ก๐๐ this car for years.
E-I couldn't do the dishes. Iฬด'ฬดvฬดeฬด ฬดwฬดoฬดrฬดkฬดeฬดdฬด ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐.
๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ "๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ข", ๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
--> I couldn't do the dishes. I'๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ all day.
F- Iฬดโฬดvฬดeฬด ฬดbฬดeฬดeฬดnฬด ฬดrฬดeฬดaฬดdฬดiฬดnฬดgฬด ๐ญ๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ฌ this year.
๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ธ'๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
--> Iโ๐๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ ten books this year.
๐ซ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ป๐๐ธ๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ป๐๐ธ๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ฎ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ?
๐ญ-๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ๐๐:
A๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฏ๐ (dynamic verbs) to talk about situations that ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ต and ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฑ or ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฑ.
๐-๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐๐:
-You look completely exhausted. ๐๐๐ซ๐ you ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ all the way back from town?
-The car wheels are covered in mud. ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ the wrong road?
-There is a clattering of plates in the kitchen. Who'๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ?
๐-๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ (Continuous Actions)
-It ๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ญ๐๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ longer to get there due to rush hour traffic.
-You should ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง๐ the building ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต in order to notice the burglary attempts.
-She ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด for the bus to arrive ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด.
๐-๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐งs:
-๐๐๐ฏ๐ you ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐ in Egypt ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด ?
-I ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ her every ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ.
-She ๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ญ๐๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ her son to school ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.
๐- ๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ (๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐๐) ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ:
-๐๐๐ฏ๐ you ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ฐ๐๐ญ๐๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ TV all night? ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ!
-๐๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ง๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ข๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ, and now the car ๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐๐.
- It seems that you ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด more diligently than we had imagined, so you ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐บ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด a contribution that deserves thanks.
๐ฒ-๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป:
-I ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ to the radio since 8 PM, and now Iโm feeling a bit tired.
-๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ you ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐๐๐ฑ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด English?
-It ๐๐๐จ ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐จ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฌ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.
Hello
we use present perfect continuous for an activity that has recently stopped or just stopped .
What is the duration between an activity that has recently stopped and now ? can I use ?
can I use the duration between an activity that has recently stopped and now a few minutes, an hour, ten hours, half a day, a day, or two days ?
Hello HLH,
I'm afraid English grammar does not work in such quantifiable terms! It would be easier in some ways if it did, perhaps, but the determination of whether something is recent or not is really up to the speaker. It's a question of perception: does the speaker see the action as recent or not?
This is very common in English grammar when dealing with aspects like continuous and perfect. For example, continuous forms are often used to show a situation is temporary:
I'm living in Tokyo. [a temporary situation]
I live in Tokyo. [Tokyo is my home]
However, there is no time value here; it is purely a question of how the speaker sees the situation.
Peter
The LearnEngish Team
Hello. John and Mike are friends:
John says, โMy father wants me to work for him this summer. Iโve never had a real job. Really looking forward to it.โ
Mike replies, โDo you really believe itโll be real? I think the attitude of his employees towards you will be very different from the attitude they would have towards a person who were not their bossโs kid. Nobody would scold you or reprimand you, even if you had made some serious mistakes.โ
Can I use โwereโ in the penultimate sentence? It feels like it needs some sort of unreality: โฆthey would have towards a person if they were not the bossโs kid. And in the last sentence Iโd like to use the past perfect, but I donโt want it to indicate an unreal action in the past; it has to be a backshifted present perfect: Nobody will scold or reprimand you, even if you have made (completed action) some serious mistakes.
Thank you.
Hello Abu_Abu,
Yes, those forms are possible. I think 'made' is rather more likely in the second part, however, as the speaker is really talking in general terms rather than about any specific mistake: Nobody will (>would) scold you, even if you make (>made) some serious mistakes.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thanks. Even "were" is possible? I thought it was a relative clause, and regular rules should apply.
Hello again Abu_Abu,
Yes, 'were' is possible here. It is a hypothetical construction with the same meaning as '...the attitude they would have towards a person if that person were not their bossโs kid'.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you.
Hello. James and Arik live and Canada. Arik is from Moldova. Before moving to Canada, Arik spent 8 years in Israel.
James - Yesterday I went to a farmersโ market near my multistory building. Everything was so expensive, I had to haggle a little bit to knock down the price. Have you ever haggled?
Arik - No, never. I go to supermarkets.
James - You spent 8 years in Israel and never haggled? I donโt believe you.
Can the past perfect be used in the last sentence? Or is the simple past okay?
"Youโd spent 8 years in Israel and never haggled?"
Can I use the present perfect if there is no time frame or time markers?
"You've lived in Israel and never haggled?"
Thank you for your time and effort.