Top 10 Past Perfect Continuous Patterns in English

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everybody welcome back to top words my

name is Alisha and today we’re going to

talk about ten past perfect continuous

patterns so before we start today’s

episode of top words this is just a

review of a grammar point so using I’ve

been I’m going to use I’ve been to

introduce each of these so for a little

bit of grammar review this means I have

been plus a progressive form of the verb

meaning I started at some point in the

past and it continues to the current

point in time when we are speaking so

all of the sentences all of the patterns

I’m going to introduce in this lesson

follow that pattern then I’ll try to use

some example sentences with different

subjects as well so let’s look I’ve been

thinking all right the first sentence is

I’ve been thinking I’ve been thinking so

something that you started thinking

about in the past and you have continued

you may be started thinking I don’t know

two weeks ago and you thought about a

week ago and you thought about a few

days ago

so and now you’re thinking about it you

can say I’ve been thinking you could say

I’ve been thinking thought that thought

and continue to a new idea you can say

I’ve been thinking about and then you

continue with the gerund form of the

verb so like I’ve been thinking about

changing jobs I’ve been thinking about

moving to a new apartment we use the

gerund form they’re moving so another

example sentence I’ve been thinking

about starting a new hobby

I’ve been worrying the next pattern is

I’ve been worrying I’ve been worrying so

something that you thought about in the

past that caused you to worry and you

continued to worry about until the

present time I’ve been worrying about

bla bla bla I’ve been worrying about my

brother my mother says she’s been

worrying about me for a long time or my

boss has been worrying about this

project so always this has been or have

been plus worrying about something I’ve

been worrying about something

okay in another sentence I’ve been

worrying about you all night I’ve been

wanting in the next pattern is I’ve been

wanting I’ve been wanting so wanting

means something you started like you

wanted it for the first time in the past

like I think I used this in a live a

live video I said I’ve been wanting to

see that movie like I’ve been wanting to

see the new Blade Runner I think I said

that means I started wanting I for the

first time I thought I wanted to do that

or I wanted some object and I didn’t get

it at that time maybe the next day and

the day after that and the day after

that I still wanted that thing so I can

say I’ve been wanting that I’ve been

wanting that so for example in my

sentence I’ve been wanting to see that

movie for a long time or he’s been

wanting to take a day off for ages or

they’ve been wanting to travel the world

for 50 years something like that in

another example sentence yeah I’ve been

wanting to see that movie I’ve been

studying the next pattern is I’ve been

studying I’ve been studying this is a

pattern that’s probably very useful for

many people who are watching I’ve been

studying means you started studying in

the past and you continued to study for

a number of years or a number of months

or maybe just a few days I don’t know

I’ve been studying so this is a pattern

that you can use actually all of these

are patterns that you can use with for

and since before the period of time or

the length of time so for example I’ve

been studying English for three years or

she’s been studying accounting her whole

life or they’ve been studying gardening

for the last six months for example so

talking about a thing you have studied

for a period of time you can refer to

that continuously with the progressive

form or the continuous form in another

sentence I’ve been studying English for

a year I’ve been hearing about ah the

next one the next pattern is I’ve been

hearing about I’ve been hearing about

this is useful for gossip or for a news

maybe you can use it to talk about like

a new restaurant or a new bar or just

something interesting some interesting

little piece of information you continue

to hear about so you heard it once or

maybe you heard about it again a few

days later something that here and there

you’ve you heard about a few times you

can say I’ve been hearing about blah

blah blah like I’ve been hearing about

this new restaurant that opened recently

or I’ve been hearing about the upcoming

policy changes at work or he said he’s

been hearing about some bad weather

that’s gonna come this summer but

something that you’ve been hearing

something that you heard news about in

the past multiple times you can say I’ve

been hearing about blah blah blah in a

sentence I’ve been hearing about our new

manager okay I’ve been listening to next

one is also may be useful for your

studies but um I think useful for your

hobbies it’s I’ve been listening to I’ve

been listening to so something that

began and again began in the past

continues to the present that happened

regularly so this can mean like music

that you like or maybe a news program or

a podcast that you enjoy or maybe I

don’t know even this video series for

example so I’ve been listening to that

artist for many years or he’s been

listening to his boss’s advice for the

whole day or she’s been listening to her

mother shout for three hours I don’t

know but these are things we’ve we are

we have listened to continuously for a

period of time I’ve been listening to

something else continuously in another

sentence I’ve been listening to a lot of

jazz lately I’ve been talking a lot with

the next pattern is I’ve been talking a

lot with I’ve been talking a lot with or

you can say I’ve been talking a lot to

is also alright but I’ve been talking a

lot with means over an extended period

of time or maybe recently there’s a

person or a group of people or an

organization perhaps you have had many

conversations with you’ve spoken to that

person many times so for example he’s

been talking a lot with a counselor

recently or they’ve been talking a lot

with upper management about the future

of the company for example or I’ve been

talking a lot with my neighbors lately

it’s been great so talking a lot with is

another pattern that’s useful in this

grammar point I think in a sentence I’ve

been talking a lot with my parents this

month I’ve been living next one is a

commonly confused when I think the next

one is I’ve been living I’ve been living

here or I’ve been living in city or

country name for or since blah blah blah

so I’ve been living in the USA for 87

years or she’s been living in that city

for three months or they’ve been living

here for almost a year I think so

been living a lot of people say like can

I say like I have lived here for one

year or I’ve been living here for one

year they mean the same thing really

like especially with the verb to live

like I have lived here for five years

and I’ve been living here for five years

they’re to me they’re very similar in

meaning I think I’ve been living here I

feel both they’re they’re both perfectly

acceptable

really I would I would use either like I

would say I’ve lived here for five years

or I’ve been living here for five years

it’s I suppose the continuous nature is

a little bit stronger with the

continuous tense but they really

communicate the same idea so you can use

either to talk about the place where you

live really so one more example I’ve

been living in Bangkok for three years

now I’ve been working next pattern is

I’ve been working I’ve been working this

is one you can use to talk about your

job or perhaps a project that you’re

doing so you can use I’ve been working

at a certain company you can say I’ve

been working as plus a job title with

your extra information so I’ve been

working as a teacher for 18 years or

I’ve been working as a doctor for three

months for example you can say I’ve been

working on plus a project name like I’ve

been working on a new promotion or I’ve

been working on a new book for example

so depending on the preposition that you

use after this expression you can change

sort of the information you want to

present so to recap I’ve been working in

ABC company for five years I’ve been

working as a doctor for five years or

I’ve been working on a new project for

five years so these are a few patterns

that you can use with the verb working

here to talk about a continuous thing in

your past and your present as well so in

another sentence I’ve been working in

this department for six months I’ve been

planning the last one is I’ve been

planning I’ve been planning so this

refers to perhaps a future plan

something that you started thinking

about in the past but it has not

happened yet maybe something that you

are planning even now but you started

planning it in the past so this is

something maybe it has not happened yet

it’s going to happen in the future so

I’ve been planning a birthday party for

my friend or he’s been planning to find

a new job or they’ve been planning a

month-long vacation for example so

something it hasn’t happened yet but

it’s going to happen in the future we

can use I’ve been planning they’ve been

planning she’s been playing in another

sentence I’ve been planning a barbecue

all summer so those are ten past perfect

continuous patterns I hope that those

are helpful

those are a few examples of some ways

that we use at least in American English

the past perfect continuous or the past

perfect progressive tense so I hope that

these are helpful for you as you kind of

build some sentences and kind of get a

feel for the way that some of these

verbs are commonly used

course if there’s another pattern that

you like to use with the continuous or

the progressive tense please let us know

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this episode of top words and I’ll see

you again soon bye bye

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