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.
Hello,
I'm wondering whether this sentence is correct : He hasn't been studying enough recently. If we want to talk about an action that is going on up to the present, then we should use the continuous form of the present perfect. If something happened recently, then it has been done. This is over. This is about the consequences of a past action. The simple form should be used. Thank you.
Hello si84m,
Yes, that's a good summary. The simple form focuses on the result or the achievement (answering questions like how much or how many) whereas the continuous form focuses on the ongoing process.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello. Could you please help me? Which one is correct? Why?
Look! Someone (has broken - has been breaking) that window.
Thank you.
Hello Ahmed Imam,
The correct option here is the simple form (has broken).
The continuous form would be used for an action which is either repeated or continues on for a measurable time. Obviously, breaking glass is, as we say, once and done and is not an action which is repeatable or which takes a long time.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
i feel like "has broken" is the correct answer, because break describes a completed action, you break something and the action is over.
𝒫𝓇𝑒𝓈𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒻𝑒𝒸𝓉 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝑜𝓇 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓈𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒻𝑒𝒸𝓉 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐨𝐮𝐬?
𝟭-𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀:
A𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗯𝘀 (dynamic verbs) to talk about situations that 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 and 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 or 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱.
𝐚-𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝:
-You look completely exhausted. 𝙃𝙖𝙫𝙚 you 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 all the way back from town?
-The car wheels are covered in mud. 𝙃𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 the wrong road?
-There is a clattering of plates in the kitchen. Who'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠?
𝐛-𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 (Continuous Actions)
-It 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 longer to get there due to rush-hour traffic.
-You should 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 the building 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 in order to notice the burglary attempts.
-She 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 for the bus to arrive 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴.
𝐜-𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧s:
-𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 you 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 in Egypt 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 ?
-I 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 her every 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘥.
-She 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 her son to school 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨.
𝐝- 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭 (𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝) 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬:
-𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 you 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 TV all night? 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘳��𝘥!
-𝘞𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥, and now the car 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 in mud.
- It seems that you 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 more diligently than we had imagined, so you 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 a contribution that deserves thanks.
𝗲-𝗗𝘂𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:
-I 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 to the audio feedbacks since 8 PM.
-𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 you 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 English?
-It 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘴𝘪��𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨.
𝟐-𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭, 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 ᴏʀ 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐨𝐮𝐬?
A-𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 you b̴e̴e̴n̴ ̴b̴u̴y̴i̴n̴g̴ your English book 𝐲𝐞𝐭?
-The verb " 𝐛𝐮𝐲 " is a single, completed action : It is not a permanent state in the past.
-"𝘆𝗲𝘁" asks if the action has been completed up to now.
𝚆𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎:
--> 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 you 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 your English book yet?
B-It h̴a̴s̴ ̴n̴e̴v̴e̴r̴ been raining at all this summer.
"𝙽𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 ” 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎, 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚘𝚞𝚜.
-->It 𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 at all this summer.
C-We'̴v̴e̴ ̴b̴e̴e̴n̴ ̴h̴a̴t̴i̴n̴g̴ the city nose.
𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚋𝚜 (like, love, hate, know, want, need, feel, think, want...) 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚜.
-->We’𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 the city nose.
D-We've has been h̴a̴v̴i̴n̴g̴ ̴ this car for years.
"𝙷𝚊𝚟𝚎” 𝚊𝚜 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙗 (𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜, 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜) 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚜.
-->We’𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 this car for years.
E-I couldn't do the dishes. I̴'̴v̴e̴ ̴w̴o̴r̴k̴e̴d̴ 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗮𝘆.
𝚆𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚑𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚏𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 "𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚍𝚊𝚢", 𝚜𝚘 𝚠𝚎 𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚘𝚞𝚜.
--> I couldn't do the dishes. I'𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 all day.
F- I̴’̴v̴e̴ ̴b̴e̴e̴n̴ ̴r̴e̴a̴d̴i̴n̴g̴ 𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 this year.
𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚘𝚌𝚞𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍.
--> I’𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 ten books this year.
𝒫𝓇𝑒𝓈𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒻𝑒𝒸𝓉 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝑜𝓇 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓈𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒻𝑒𝒸𝓉 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐨𝐮𝐬?
𝟭-𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀:
A𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗯𝘀 (dynamic verbs) to talk about situations that 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 and 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 or 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱.
𝐚-𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝:
-You look completely exhausted. 𝙃𝙖𝙫𝙚 you 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 all the way back from town?
-The car wheels are covered in mud. 𝙃𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 the wrong road?
-There is a clattering of plates in the kitchen. Who'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠?
𝐛-𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 (Continuous Actions)
-It 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 longer to get there due to rush hour traffic.
-You should 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 the building 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 in order to notice the burglary attempts.
-She 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 for the bus to arrive 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴.
𝐜-𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧s:
-𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 you 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 in Egypt 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 ?
-I 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 her every 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘥.
-She 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 her son to school 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨.
𝐝- 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭 (𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝) 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬:
-𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 you 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 TV all night? 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘳𝘦𝘥!
-𝘞𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥, and now the car 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝.
- It seems that you 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 more diligently than we had imagined, so you 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 a contribution that deserves thanks.
𝗲-𝗗𝘂𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:
-I 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 to the radio since 8 PM, and now I’m feeling a bit tired.
-𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 you 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 English?
-It 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨.
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, “My father wants me to work for him this summer. I’ve never had a real job. Really looking forward to it.”
Mike replies, “Do you really believe it’ll 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 boss’s kid. Nobody would scold you or reprimand you, even if you had made some serious mistakes.”
Can I use “were” in the penultimate sentence? It feels like it needs some sort of unreality: …they would have towards a person if they were not the boss’s kid. And in the last sentence I’d like to use the past perfect, but I don’t 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.