Present Perfect Progressive Tense in English Grammar

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Introduction

The present perfect progressive tense, also present perfect continuous, expresses an action that begins in the past and lasts until a present or almost present moment. The timing of this action is not specified, instead, the result or process of the action is emphasised. The present perfect progressive is conjugated with the present form of have, the past participle of be and the present participle or -ing form of the main verb.

Learn how to use and conjugate the present perfect progressive tense in English grammar. In the exercises, you can practise what you have learnt.

Example

Aaron has been repairing cars since he was sixteen years old. He has always wanted to be a mechanic.

He has been working in this garage for ten years.

As Aaron has been changing tyres all morning, his clothes are dirty now.

When to use the present perfect progressive

The present perfect progressive is similar to the present perfect, but we use it to express a continuing or unfinished action, or emphasise an action rather than a result.

Here are the three main uses of the present perfect continuous:

  • to express an action in the recent past with emphasis on the action itself and not the result
    Example:
    Aaron has been changing tyres all morning.
  • to express a single continuing action that started in the past and is incomplete at the present moment
    Example:
    He has been working in this garage for ten years.
    He still works in the garage, therefore the action is incomplete.
  • to express repeated actions that started in the past and continue now.
Example:
Aaron has been repairing cars since he was sixteen years old.

Take a closer look at the difference between the present perfect and the present perfect progressive in English grammar in the tense comparison section of the website.

Signal Words: English Present Perfect Progressive

Signal words can help us to recognise the tense in a sentence. The signal words for the present perfect progressive are:

  • all day, the whole week
  • for 4 years, since 1993, how long?
  • lately

Conjugation of English Present Perfect Progressive Tense

To conjugate the present perfect progressive we follow the rule: have/has + been + verb in the -ing form. The table below provides an overview of conjugations of the present perfect progressive in positive, negative and interrogative sentences.

positive negative question
I/you/we/they I have been speaking I have not been speaking Have I been speaking?
he/she/it
 he has been speaking he has not been speaking Has he been speaking?

Present Participle – Spelling Rules

The present participle is generally formed by adding -ing to the base form of a verb. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule:

  • An -e at the end of the word is removed, but -ee, -oe and -ye remain unchanged.
    Example:
    come – coming
    but: agree - agreeing
  • The final consonant is doubled in words that have a short stressed vowel before the final consonant. However, -w, -x and -y are not doubled.
    Example:
    sit – sitting
    but: mix – mixing
  • An -l as a final consonant after a vowel is always doubled in British English but not in American English.
    Example:
    travel – travelling (British)
    traveling (American)
  • An -ie at the end of the word is replaced with a -y
    Example:
    lie – lying

Contractions

Contractions are a combination of certain pronouns, verbs and the word not. They are mostly used in spoken and informal written English. The table below provides an overview of contractions in the present perfect progressive tense using the verb have.

long form contraction example
have …’ve they’ve
have not …’ve not/… haven’t I’ve not/I haven’t
has …’s she’s
has not …’s not/… hasn’t he’s not/he hasn’t

To Note

The contracted form of have is generally only used after pronouns.

Example:
They’ve been repairing cars in the morning.
(but not: The men’ve been repairing cars in the morning.)

But the contraction of has is possible after nouns as well as pronouns unless the noun already ends with -s.

Example:
He’s/Aaron’s not been repairing cars in the morning.