July’s Grammar Lesson of the Month is the Present Perfect Progressive (also called the Present Perfect Continuous). We will refer to this tense as “Progressive” and as “Continuous” in this post.
Today we are practicing this tense by correcting the following sentences. Each of them has a mistake. If you need to refresh yourself on this tense, check out our Grammar Lesson of the Month before correcting the sentences below. Good luck!
Practice with the Present Perfect Progressive
Correct the mistakes in the sentences below. Each sentence has one mistake.
1. I have been wanting a cat since I moved here.
2. I not have been exercising lately.
3. How long have she been living in San Francisco?
4. Where you have been staying in San Diego?
5. How long you have been waiting here?
For the answers, scroll down…
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Answers
1. I have been wanting a cat since I moved here.
Correct: I have wanted a cat since I moved here.
Remember: the Present Perfect Continuous cannot be used with stative (also called “non-action”) verbs. The correct sentence should use the Present Perfect.
2. I not have been exercising lately.
Correct: I have not been exercising lately.
The negative Present Perfect Continuous equation is has/have + not + been + ing.
3. How long have she been living in San Francisco?
Correct: How long has she been living in San Francisco?
Remember: “has” is for the third person singular (he/she/it) and “have” is for all other people or groups of people. I have been studying, but she hasn’t been studying.
4. Where you have been staying in San Diego?
Correct: Where have you been staying in San Diego?
This is an example of a Present Perfect Progressive question. The equation for a question is:
wh-word + has/have + subject + been + ing
Some more examples of Present Perfect Progressive “wh-” questions include:
What have you been doing lately?
Where has she been working?
How long has she been working there?
When have you been getting up each morning?
Who have you been working out with lately?
5. How long you have been waiting here?
Correct: How long have you been waiting here?
This is another example of an incorrect Present Perfect Progressive question. Again, the subject and “have” must be switched.