Understanding Present Perfect Progressive tense: Formation, Usage, and Signal Words
Discover the Present Perfect Progressive tense with us! The progressive form of the perfect tense is used to express long-lasting actions or states. Learn how to use the Present Perfect Progressive tense in your English with helpful tips and sample sentences.
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The formation of the Present Perfect Progressive tense
To form the Present Perfect Progressive tense, you need the auxiliary verb to have in the Present Perfect (have/has been). You also need to form the verb of the sentence in the -ing form. Take a look at the following formula for the formation of the Present Perfect Progressive tense:
Subject + have/has been + verb in -ing form = Present Perfect Progressive tense.
As you can see from the formula, forming the Present Perfect Progressive tense is not as difficult as you might have thought. To deepen your knowledge of the Present Perfect Progressive tense, you will now find a few example sentences in the Present Perfect Progressive tense.
Example sentences in Present Perfect Progressive tense
| Present Perfect | Example |
|---|---|
| Have/has been studying | I have been studying for three hours. |
| Have/has been working | She has been working on the project all day. |
| Have/has been running | He has been running for an hour. |
| Have/has been reading | They have been reading the same book for weeks. |
| Have/has been sleeping | She has been sleeping for ten hours. |
| Have/has been eating | He has been eating his breakfast for half an hour. |
| Have/has been playing | They have been playing soccer for two hours. |
| Have/has been writing | She has been writing her essay for hours. |
| Have/has been watching | He has been watching TV since this morning. |
| Have/has been talking | They have been talking on the phone for an hour. |
The use of the Present Perfect Progressive tense
The Present Perfect Progressive tense is basically used to describe actions or states that began in the past, continue into the present, and eventually may continue into the future. The Present Perfect Progressive tense is most often used to emphasize that an action or state has lasted a while.
- Action began in the past and continues into the present.
- action began in the past and continues into the future
- To emphasize that a state or action has been occurring frequently lately
- Action started in the past and continues in the present
Check out even more example sentences with corresponding signal words in Present Perfect Progressive tense in our list below to deepen your understanding of usage and formation.
Signal words in the Present Perfect Progressive tense with example sentences
| Signal word | Example |
|---|---|
| Lately | I have been studying a lot lately. |
| Recently | She has been traveling a lot recently. |
| So far | We have been having a great time so far. |
| For | They have been living in London for two years. |
| Since | He has been playing guitar since he was 10 years old. |
| All day | I have been working all day on this project. |
| All week | They have been preparing for the exam all week. |
| All month | She has been saving money all month for her vacation. |
| All year | We have been planning this trip all year long. |
| How long | How long have you been waiting for the bus? |
| Up to now | He has been successful in all of his projects up to now. |
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