Use the Present Perfect Continuous or Progressive Basic English Grammar
everybody welcome back to our weekly
live stream my name is Alisha and this
week we are going to talk about using
the present perfect continuous present
perfect continuous many of you have
asked questions about this grammar point
especially the difference between
present perfect continuous and just
present perfect so today we are going to
focus on this grammar point and I’m
going to explain when we use it why we
use it and a couple of ways that you can
use it to make questions too so as you
join live please make sure to like and
share the video also send us a comment
in the chat so that we can see you I see
some of you on YouTube hello Rendell
salad you be lose Manfred Roberto hi
everybody thanks very much for coming I
think Facebook is on the way right now I
see one person Muhammad hello hi there
great so today’s topic will be kind of
grammar heavy I’m going to focus on
grammar also as always please don’t
forget to check out the free stuff we
have for you you can find free
vocabulary and phrase PDFs from the link
below the video on youtube or above the
video on Facebook I will introduce those
a little bit later okay I see more
people on Facebook now hi there Sophia
and Sam and Jung hi fighta and Mirza and
all kinds of people great okay I see
lots on YouTube as well too uh Julio and
Sergio and Mary great lots of people
there as well fantastic
so we’re going to wait another minute or
so for other people to join the lesson
while we wait I want to as always share
one more quick a kind of announcement or
reminder and that is this week I wanted
to remind you about the weekly series we
have on our youtube channel called ask
Alicia this is a chance for you to send
questions like those little questions
that you have but maybe you find as
you’re reading things there as you’re
watching TV and so on it’s a chance for
you to send those quest
gins to me I read them all and then I
choose a few questions that I think are
helpful for everyone and we talked a
little bit about those so this is one
this is a screenshot from an episode a
recent episode about symbols I talked
about symbols that we use like for like
social media and just in general when
we’re writing online so if you’re
interested you can find the ask Alicia
series on the YouTube channel and you
can send your questions from the link
below the video on the YouTube channel -
so definitely send some questions there
we get a lotta so please notice that I
can’t answer everything and also you
might want to check the other videos on
the channel as well to see if there’s an
answer already available to your
question so please check that out that
would be awesome okay I think let’s see
we’re about three minutes in so I’m
going to share the video and then I’m
going to get started on today’s lesson
as I said today’s topic is the present
perfect continuous tense and we’re going
to be very grammar heavy today
so I’m going to break this into three
parts and I’m going to speak a bit
slowly because this is for some people a
challenging grammar point I’m going to
talk first about how to make a present
perfect continuous statement and then
why we make it why we use it and the
difference between this and present
perfect tense and then second I’m going
to talk about using it with for and
since and we’ll talk a little bit about
the negative finally I’ll talk a bit
about questions with this grammar so
let’s get started let’s begin over here
with how to make the present perfect
continuous and why we need it first how
to make it we begin a present perfect
statement with the subject the subject
of our sentence so for example I you we
he she
we follow our subject with half or has
so if your subject is I or you or we we
use have I have you have we have if your
subject is he or she or it we use paths
so I had our sorry she has he has it has
so depending on your subject you’ll need
to change this part here after this
we’ll use bin bin we follow this with a
verb in the ing form so you might hear
this form called progressive form you
might hear it called continuous ing verb
that’s how I’ve marked it for this
lesson when we want to make a negative
sentence we change this part right here
so subject plus haven’t if your subject
is I or you or we
I haven’t we haven’t they haven’t as
well if your subject is he she or it we
use hasn’t hasn’t to make a negative
statement so some examples of this first
I haven’t been sleeping well lately I
haven’t been sleeping well lately so
here my subject is I I’m using haven’t
here a negative and I’m using bin
followed by the ing form of a verb in
this case I’m using lately to mean in
the recent time period I haven’t been
sleeping well lately keep in mind this
haven’t and this hasn’t as well these
are the reduced forms of have not and
has not it sounds much more natural to
use have not I’m sorry hasn’t and
haven’t
and have not and has not at native speed
this sentence sounds like I haven’t been
sleeping well lately haven’t been
sleeping well lately
this sentence then uses a different
subject the sentence focuses on she as
the subject here
she’s you’ll notice this she’s I’ll come
back to this she’s been coming to work
late recently so again my subject she
here is this apostrophe s in cases where
your subject is he or she or it it’s
very common to use this apostrophe s in
spelling I’m sorry in writing to mean
has has so this does not mean is we know
that because the apostrophe s is
followed by VIN and this is a very like
this is a set pattern for this grammar
point so we know it is not she is
because in a she is pattern we follow is
with an adjective or maybe with a noun
phrase so here we’re following it with
bin so we know this apostrophe s is has
not its so she’s been coming to work
late recently so again here I’ve used
recently recently and lately these both
mean like in the last few days or maybe
in the last week or the last month or so
in the recent time period so what do
these sentences mean how are they
different why should we use this
continuous for him here to explain I
want to look at this kind of diagram
here I use this sort of timeline a lot I
think but to to look at the key points
on this timeline let’s imagine this star
here is now this is the conversation
right now so when I say this sentence I
haven’t been sleeping well lately or
she’s been coming to work late recently
this progressive form this present
progressive form is used to mean
something started in the past so if we
imagine this dot is the point where the
action started so at this part of the
time line it’s hard to see a little at
this part of the time line this is the
past this happened before this part of
the time line is into the future so next
week tomorrow when we use this grammar
point we’re talking about an action that
started sometime in the past and the
action continues until the present I’ve
got an arrow here too because it
suggests that perhaps the action is
going to continue after the conversation
as well so I haven’t been sleeping well
lately that means in this recent time
before the conversation this has been my
condition I haven’t been sleeping well
lately let’s compare this then - it’s
really hard to see sorry maybe you can
see it a little better than I can on my
monitor I don’t know um
this dotted line here I’ve made a dotted
line here and put a question mark inside
the dotted line thank you
this part I want to use this to show
just regular present perfect tense so we
use regular present perfect tense one
use is to talk about a general life
experience before the present like
sometime in the past but we don’t know
the specific point in time or it’s not
important it’s just not important so we
use this for like travel I have been to
France for example so we use this to
talk about things that really we don’t
need to know exactly when the action
happened or it’s not important to know
we use this to talk very often as we’ll
see in a moment about something that
started very recently or started at a
specific point in time and continued
until the present so if you want to
emphasize a continuing action it’s
probably a good idea to use the present
perfect continuous to do that if you
just want to talk about a life
experience in the past you can use
present perfect in simple present
perfect tense so I know there’s one
really common question that I see a lot
and I think I’m sure I haven’t checked
the chat but I’m sure someone has asked
this question like what about a
situation where you can say something
like this this is a really common
question like I’ve lived I’m sorry I
lived in this city for six years I’ve
lived in this city for six years this is
a simple present perfect tense sentence
I’ve lived in this city I have lived
what’s the difference between this
sentence and I’ve been living in this
city for six years what’s the difference
here the answer is there’s no difference
in this case in this case there’s no
difference so you’ll notice live this
particular verb this is one like this
the condition doesn’t really change a
lot for most people so I’ve lived in
this city for six years and I’ve been
living in this city for six years they
mean the same thing this is a case where
you can choose either it’s fine another
one that you can use usually you can use
either is with the verb work like I’ve
worked in this company for six years or
I’ve been working in this company for
six years both are fine so you’ll notice
those verbs those are things that don’t
really change so much if you compare
this to a verb like for example walk
like I’ve walked
around my neighborhood before that’s a
general life experience statement so
walking is something we do a lot if you
say like I’ve been walking around the
neighborhood for an hour that refers to
a continuing action so think about this
are you what is your goal to express a
continuing action something that started
in the past and continues to the present
if so present perfect continuous might
be a good choice if you just want to
talk about general life experience use
just the basic present perfect here ok
so that’s our introduction a long
introduction to today’s grammar I want
to check a couple comments sorry I
wasn’t paying attention to the comments
for that first part some examples um
it’s the present does the present
perfect continuous always use Ben yes
yes beim on YouTube so we need to use
this bin I have been she has been
something something in a so not I have
coming or I have going or something I
have been plus the ing form the examples
of examples I haven’t been to New York
ok so that’s a present perfect example
let’s think of some examples we can use
for present perfect continuous so think
about this think about I’ll put a
question on the board and then we’ll go
to this next part where you can practice
using for instance so think about this
question a little bit so send in the
comments even if you’re not watching
this live that’s ok so send a comment
with this question if you if you can if
you can what have you been doing
recently
what have you been doing recently sorry
it’s hard to read one more time what
have you been doing recently what have
you been doing recently so if you can
send a send your answer in the comments
I will check it if you don’t understand
this question that’s okay I’m going to
talk about it later
so I’ll take one quick break think about
this question and then send your
examples and we’ll talk about it okay
I’m going to take a break I mentioned
earlier as always we have free stuff for
you from the link below the video on
youtube or above the video if you are
watching on Facebook so present perfect
continuous because it is a grammar point
it’s not specific to like a specific you
know group of vocabulary words we need
to use this grammar point with verbs so
you can pick and choose whichever kinds
of verbs you need to use a lot so maybe
if you travel a lot I’ll just show
quickly oh I’ll show quickly a couple of
these if you’re a person who travels a
lot you might check out the ah thank you
for the airport PDF on the back there
are some vocabulary words and here it’s
hard to see I know but here on the back
there’s a Q&A at the airport and this
one you might use the present perfect
continuous to answer questions at the
airport like I’ve been traveling for a
week or something like that so this is
one example of a situation where you
might use the present perfect continuous
tense please keep in mind different from
just regular present perfect this is one
another time when you may use present
perfect continuous this is the business
PDF the business one Oh Mac when you
need to give a project report
here at the top there are some phrases
that you can use it’s not so hard
disease alright there’s some phrases you
can use for business meetings but you’ll
use present perfect continuous to talk
about things you have been working
until the meeting so this is another
case where you will probably use this
grammar point so please check that out
I’ll show a few more a little bit later
okay good so if you’re just joining live
today’s topic is present perfect
continuous I talked about how to make it
and why we use this at the beginning of
the lesson if you missed it please watch
the recording of this lesson okay let’s
go to part two part two is a little
shorter so let’s take a look at this
part part two focuses on using for and
since for and since so my example
sentence is in the first part of the
lesson focused on using lately and
recently so lately and recently mean
like the time just before now so like
the last few days or the last week so
something that happened like very close
to the present when we use for and since
we’re using them to express the specific
point in time something started or the
time period the action has continued so
for example when we make a sentence with
for we attach it to the end of this
pattern so we use the same pattern
subject have or has been in verb for
time period so time period keep in mind
a time period it’s like three days two
weeks four months
so not just one day but a length of time
so for a time period when we use since
again the same pattern can be used and
we attach since to the end here but when
we use since we need to use a point in
time a point in time so specifically
this
right here so since 2019 or since last
Tuesday or since 8 o’clock this morning
so a specific point in time that’s what
we use since with so I want to make one
more point about this I want to talk
about something that’s a little bit
challenging maybe and that is using this
with the negative so at the beginning of
this lesson I talked about using haven’t
and hasn’t to make negatives and we
talked about one example here but when
we use like for and since it can be a
little bit confusing so let’s look at an
example first let’s take a look at this
example let’s imagine a conversation
question and answer so let’s imagine
your friend asks you have you been
waiting for a long time have you been
waiting for a long time so you go to
meet your friend at the movie theater
and your friend says have you been
waiting for a long time and you say no I
haven’t been waiting for a long time so
this sentence actually even though it
begins with no this sentence means the
speaker has been waiting so if this is
me if I am answering the question I’m
waiting or I was waiting for that person
but this no means I wasn’t waiting or I
haven’t been waiting for a long time so
have you been waiting now I haven’t been
waiting for a long time this kind of
negative answer this is used for
confirmations
mm-hmm so you’re confirming something
sorry confirmations that’s a bit messy
confirmation so confirmation means
checking to check something so another
example would be like if you see your
coworker has been working really really
hard and you say have you been working
for 24 hours
again you’re checking with your coworker
and your coworker says no I haven’t been
working for 24 hours I took a break so
again they have been working yes but
they want to fix your original statement
or they want to make a change to the
thing you said before so this is a
tricky a difficult part maybe of using
this in the negative so please keep this
in mind but let’s go back to this
question what have you been doing
recently and maybe some of you have used
for or since to talk about this so let’s
practice then making a couple of
expressions with recently is okay or
with for or since so did anybody write
anything in the comments about for use
the question that I asked I’ve been
waiting for your lecture every day nice
good one that was from Sam on Facebook
nice one nice one let’s see ah Sophia on
YouTube says I’ve been watching the NBA
game since this morning very nice very
nice example with since so Sophia used
since this morning
perfect so this morning is a point in
time perfect perfect Ruben said I have
been working since 2014 good Calvin said
I have been talking to my bestie all day
long a bestie means best friend
very nice mmm Oh someone a moody on
YouTube says you mean how can you scroll
back down sorry thank you
you mean we can use present perfect
continuous with a time and present
perfect without yes that is true
so in present perfect you don’t have to
in many cases we do not
include the time we leave it out it’s
not important with present perfect
continuous we include the time period or
the specific point in time that is
correct
the questions I’ve been following your
classes very nice-nice answer to this
question good job so I’m not gonna read
that comment someone says I have been
following you since 2017 good good
following you or following your lessons
would be a nice one good if there are
form of passive present perfect
continuous uh can you give me an example
passive I’m not sure uh other ones I’ve
been watching superhero movies recently
very nice scarce lon
hello haven’t seen you for a while
someone says I’m writing like a doctor
yes I’m writing very quickly I apologize
but I try to read everything clearly so
I hope that helps someone says I’ve been
singing since 2001 very nice on Facebook
I’ve been waiting for you for a long
time I’ve been waiting for you for a
long time okay
great nice examples everybody let’s
finish up then I’ll take one more break
and then I’m going to talk a little bit
about making questions with this grammar
so if you missed it earlier I showed
some examples where we might use present
perfect continuous my examples are in
business situations where you explain
your recent work at your recent progress
and another example is when you are
traveling at the airport so these are a
couple situations where you may need to
use present perfect continuous so you
can get these from the link below the
video on YouTube or above the video on
Facebook some other situations are when
you’re talking about eating - for
example I haven’t been eating meat
recently if you’re a vegetarian or a
vegan I haven’t been eating meat
recently there are some food vocabulary
words on the back of this dining so it
says dining this is for like restaurants
going to restaurants and so on so this
is another case where you may use
present perfect continuous as well and
we’re talking this says romance and love
yes but you can talk about relationships
in general just your your friendships
even using this like I’ve been seeing my
friends once a week lately and so on so
there are lots of different situations
where you may want to use a present
perfect continuous
so check out any of those PDFs you can
find them for free from the link below
the video on youtube or above the video
on Facebook if you’re watching on
Instagram please check youtube or
facebook sorry I cannot see your
comments live okay let’s go on to the
last part of today’s lesson of course if
you’re just joining please don’t forget
to like
share the video so that other people can
find it okay
let’s take a look at making questions
making questions so I have two types of
question here this first type of
question is an information question you
want to get more information from
someone this begins with question word
and when I say question word
I mean who what where when why how how
long and so on this is the first type of
question I’ll talk about the second type
of question pattern I’ll talk about is
this yes or no question path so we’ll
talk about two let’s begin with this
information question type so to make a
an information question we use question
word to begin Plus have or has or in the
negative haven’t or hasn’t and then we
use our subject plus bin plus our ING
verb so I asked you earlier in the
lesson what have you been doing lately
what have you been doing lately this is
a very common question when you meet a
friend or maybe you meet a former
colleague that you have not seen for a
long time at native speed this question
sounds like what have you been doing
lately what have you been doing lately
so this question means from tark Cena
from like the recent past
so lately so from the recent past until
this conversation
what were your activities what have you
been doing lately what have you been
doing recently so this is a very good
question to know of course to ask so
please try to use this question and also
think about how to answer this question
using today’s grammar points so some of
you wrote your answers in the chat
earlier that was awesome what have you
been doing lately I think someone said
I’ve been watching superhero movie
lately or I’ve been watching your
lessons so I’ve been ing form I have
been I’ve been so this is a great
question to know of course we can use
other question where it’s here so this
one what have you been doing lately or
like how long have you been studying
English that’s another very good one for
you to know so you can change your
question word and change the type of
information you hope to get okay I’m
running out of time so let’s go to the
last point here have and has beacons and
yes or no question have or has plus your
subject plus bin plus an ING verb again
so this type of question this is good to
use as I said a little bit earlier this
is good to use for confirming things
confirming things so again confirming
means checking something so here this
example like I’m shocked about something
in this example have you been following
me
have you been following me or have the
police been watching your house it’s
like you want to ask a shocking question
about a recent activity that started in
the past and continues to the
conversation have you been following me
so notice half and then my subject you
so these two match yeah not has you but
have you been same as here following in
this case is my verb following me have
you been following me if I change the
subject
has he been following me has she been
following me so please remember that
this part your have and has needs to
match your subject just as we talked
about at the beginning of the list
Reuben says have you been scolding me
okay maybe maybe there’s a situation
where we can use that someone on
facebook says I have been learning from
a teacher on Facebook very nice example
very nice example okay so this is how we
can make information questions and
yes/no questions with this grammar point
so this is a challenging grammar point
but I hope that this lesson is helpful
for you of course if you have questions
about this please send them in the
comments or as I talked about at the
beginning of the lesson send it to the
ask Alicia question portal hello Mary
Vick hello there one of our members has
joined our chat hi so as I said I have
to finish today’s lesson there thank you
to everyone who joined if you missed it
this video has been recorded so please
watch it on Facebook or on YouTube at
any time we will be back next week of
course next week
mmm will be June 12 my gosh it’s going
so fast every week I think that but next
week Wednesday June 12th 10 p.m. Eastern
Standard Time our topic will be how to
speak to a doctor how to speak to a
doctor so I’ve gotten a few requests for
like expressing like your sickness
expert talking about sickness or when
you don’t feel very good
so I’m going to focus on speaking to a
doctor good for people who travel I
think and for people maybe who are doing
like study abroad students I think so
this is a good one to know for emergency
situations as well
so please join us next week June 12th
how to speak to a doctor every every
Wednesday of course
at 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time that is
New York City time if you don’t know
your local time please google it that’s
everything from me I think please don’t
forget to check out your free stuff from
the link below the video on YouTube
above the video on Facebook I show you a
bunch of these earlier but please do
practice present perfect
- continuous and think about the
differences between this point and
present perfect tense as I talked about
earlier so thank you very much to
everybody for joining this week’s live
lesson thank you for all of your example
sentences and thank you for liking and
sharing the video - enjoy the rest of
your week have a nice weekend and I will
see you again next time bye bye