Pres.Perf.Continuous vs. Past Perf. Continuous

Grammar bank

Present Perfect Continuous vs Past Perfect Continuous

Present Perfect Simple

• have / has + past perfect

• An action that started in the past and continuous to the present.

• An action that took place at an unspecified time in the past and is relevant now.

Examples

My friends and I have been in South America since July.

We have stayed in this hotel.

Present Perfect Continuous

• have / has + been + verb + -ing

• An action that started in the past and is still going on now or whose results are still apparent.

Example

We have been hiking all day.

Multiple Choice

You still ..... the money you owe me.

• haven't paid

• haven't been paying

Multiple Choice

Isn't Cindy tired? She ..... for 45 minutes.

• has run

• has been running

Past Perfect Simple

• had + past participle

• An action that took place before a specific time in the past.

Example

When we got to the airport, the plane had already landed.

Multiple Choice

Don't worry. We ..... too long.

• hadn't waited

• haven't been waiting

Multiple Choice

Tom finally forgave me after I ..... several times.

• have apologised

• had apologised

Past Perfect Continuous

• had + been + verb + ing

• An action that continued for some time up to another action in the past.

Example

We had been driving for three hours before we stopped for a coffee.

Multiple Choice

We ..... for her for over an hour. Perhaps we should call her.

• had been waiting

• have been waiting

Multiple Choice

Much later, we realised that the airline ...... our names.

• has been calling

• had been calling

Multiple Choice

By the time we arrived, our train ....

• had left

• has left

• has been leaving

• had been leaving

Multiple Choice

Jane is travelling in the Far East. She .... three countries so far.

• has been visiting

• had visited

• has visited

• had been visiting

Multiple Choice

Mark ..... English in Bangkok for a year when he decided to blog full time.

• has been teaching

• had taught

• has taught

• had been teaching