The present perfect continuous tense is used to describe actions that began in the past, have continued up to the present moment, and are still continuing. It is formed by using the present tense of the auxiliary verb “have” (e.g. “have,” “has”) and the present participle of the main verb (which ends in “-ing,” such as “eating,” “drinking,” “walking”).
Here are some examples of the present perfect continuous tense:
- “I have been eating breakfast for an hour.” (action that began in the past, has continued up to the present moment, and is still continuing)
- “She has been studying for her exams every day this week.” (action that began in the past, has continued up to the present moment, and is still continuing)
- “They have been playing soccer in the park every day this week.” (action that began in the past, has continued up to the present moment, and is still continuing)
In the present perfect continuous tense, the verb “have” is conjugated to match the subject of the sentence, and the present participle is used to describe the action that has been taking place.
Conjugation Table
Here is a conjugation table for the present perfect continuous tense, showing the verb forms for the subject pronouns “I,” “you,” “he/she/it,” “we,” and “they”:
| Subject pronoun | eat | drink | walk |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | have been eating | have been drinking | have been walking |
| you | have been eating | have been drinking | have been walking |
| he/she/it | has been eating | has been drinking | has been walking |
| we | have been eating | have been drinking | have been walking |
| they | have been eating | have been drinking | have been walking |
As you can see, the verb “have” is conjugated to match the subject of the sentence, and the present participle is used to describe the action that has been taking place.