Present Perfect Progressive Tense in English

Learn the definition, rules, usage, formulas, example sentences, and practice exercises of the present perfect progressive tense in English. Learn the entire lesson and boost your English grammar learning skills.

Present Perfect Progressive Tense

When you want to refer to an action, a state, or an event that originated in the past but is still ongoing or incomplete, use the present perfect progressive.

ONGOING STATE: I have been living on a ship for three months.
INCOMPLETE ACTION: We have been organizing this trip since May.

The present perfect progressive consists of two auxiliary verbs, have and be, and the -ing form of the main verb. The auxiliary verb have comes first, and it is marked for tense. Next comes the perfect/passive form of the verb be—been. The final element of the present perfect progressive is the -ing form of the main verb.

	Singular	Plural
First Person	I have been verb + ing	we have been verb + ing
Second Person	you have been verb + ing	you have been verb + ing
Third Person	he, she, it has been verb + ing	they have been verb + ing

Forming Contractions: Pronouns with the Auxiliary Verb Have

Contractions can be formed by combining a pronoun and the auxiliary verb have. You will often hear these contractions in conversation or see them in informal writing, but you will rarely find them used in formal contexts.

Notice that an apostrophe indicates the omission of the letters h and a:

I + have = I’ve been living
we + have = we’ve been living
you + have = you’ve been living
they + have = they’ve been living
he + has = he’s been living
she + has = she’s been living
it + has = it’s been living

Forming Negatives

To make a present perfect progressive verb negative, place not after the auxiliary verb have.

Structure: Subject + has/have not been + Verb (+ing)
Example: He has not been working.
has not been going
have not been going

Forming Contractions: Hasn’t and Haven’t

The following contractions can be used in conversation and informal writing:

I haven’t been going
We haven’t been going
You haven’t been going
They haven’t been going
He hasn’t been going
She hasn’t been going
It hasn’t been going

Forming yes-or-no Questions

To form yes-or-no questions, begin the question with the auxiliary verb have. After a tensed form of have, place the subject, the perfect/passive form of the auxiliary verb be (been), and the -ing form of the main verb.

Statement: You have been tiring easily.
Yes/no question: Have you been tiring easily?

Forming Wh-Questions

In wh-questions, when the question word is the subject of the sentence, the form of the question is similar to the form of a statement.

Statement: Brad Omans has been reporting the news.
Wh-question: Who has been reporting the news?

When the question word is any other part of the sentence, the auxiliary verb have comes after the question word and is followed by the subject, the perfect/passive form of the auxiliary verb be (been), and the -ing form of the main verb.

Statement: Many people have been going to the carnival.
Wh-question: Where have many people been going?
Statement: You have been looking at something.
Wh-question: What have you been looking at?

Present Perfect Progressive Tense Exercise

1. Complete each sentence with the present perfect progressive form of the verb in parentheses.

1. My knee ———— (hurt) for a week.
2. The new policy ———— (cause) some confusion.
3. Janice ———— (exercise) for an hour.
4. I ———— (drink) a lot of coffee today.
5. He ———— (worry) too much.
6. She ———— (earn) good grades in all her classes.
7. Her parents ———— (pay) for her apartment.
8. We ———— (follow) your instructions.
9. We ———— (sit) here too long.
10. I ———— (apply) for scholarships.
11. They ———— (help) each other.
12. Temperatures ———— (rise).

2. Use the pronoun and verb given to create a sentence that contains a contraction.

EXAMPLE:

We, hope
We’ve been hoping for better weather.

1. He, expect

———— a phone call.

2. It, change

———— day by day.

3. We, develop

———— a new game.

4. They, check

———— their e-mail every day.

5. She, explore

———— her new home.

6. You, complain

———— about your sore back all day.

7. I, calculate

———— my income tax.

3. Complete each of the following sentences using the subject and verb provided.

EXAMPLE:

We, fall, not
We have not been falling behind in our work.

1. He, ignore, not

———— the evidence.

2. It, improve, not

———— much.

3. We, commute, not

———— together this year.

4. They, buy, not

———— much lately.

5. She, do, not

———— her work.

6. You, finish, not

———— your projects on time.

7. I, ride, not

———— the bus to school.

4. Rewrite the following statements as yes/no questions.

EXAMPLE:

She has been using the new database.
Has she been using the new database?

1. You have been paying all your bills on time.

2. The noise has been bothering them.

3. Traffic has been moving slowly.

4. She has been waiting a long time.

5. They have been reducing the number of accidents.

6. The suspect has been lying.

7. You have been reading an interesting novel.

8. The government has been allowing journalists into the country.

9. She has been keeping good records.

10. They have been considering the proposal.

11. He has been staying close to home.

12. She has been making progress.

5. Complete the following questions based on the statements provided:

EXAMPLE:

Barbara has been studying at night.
When has Barbara been studying?

1. Paula has been traveling all over Asia.
Where ————————
2. He has been living in Miami for five years.
How long ————————
3. They have been searching for their lost dog.
What ————————
4. My grandfather has been watching the children.
Who ————————
5. They have been going to the Virgin Islands every spring.
How often ————————
6. The guide has been arranging a special tour of the ruins.
What ————————
7. Pei-Hsuan has been taking notes.
Who ————————
8. You have been attending the university since 2012.
How long ————————
9. They have been planning a surprise party for Marta.
What ————————
10. He has been talking about his new design.
What ————————
11. You have been feeling better lately.
How ————————
12. She has been standing there for two hours.
How long ————————