**Learn English Tenses: PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS — Transcript & Summary | SozAI** Source: https://sozai.app/transcript/learn-english-tenses-present-perfect-continuous/ Rebecca from engVid explains the present perfect continuous tense: its form, uses for actions continuing from past to present, common time expressions, and why stative verbs can't take it. ## Key Takeaways - The present perfect continuous describes an action that started in the past and continues to now or has only just stopped - Its focus is on the process or duration rather than the result - Form: have/has been + verb-ing - Stative verbs (know, like, understand) cannot be used in continuous tenses, so use the present perfect instead ## What the video covers - Introduces the present perfect continuous (present perfect progressive) as an advanced English tense for actions that started in the past and continue now - Contrasts 'I have cooked dinner' (finished, result focus) with 'I have been cooking dinner' (ongoing, process focus) - Explains the formation: subject + have/has been + verb-ing, with examples for I/you/we/they and he/she/it - Covers uses: ongoing actions from the past to now, and actions that stopped only recently, such as 'I've been calling you for hours' - Lists common time expressions like 'for three hours', 'since 5:00', 'all day', 'all morning' - Distinguishes dynamic (action) verbs from stative (state) verbs, which cannot take continuous forms, e.g. 'know', 'like', 'understand' - Shows negative forms 'have not been' / 'haven't been' and question forms 'Has he been working?' with short answers - Explains spelling rules for adding -ing, such as dropping the final e (change → changing) - Gives practice with irregular verbs such as 'go' and 'think' in positive, negative, and question forms - Encourages learners to move quickly between positive, negative, and question forms to master the tense ## Chapters 1. 00:00 Introduction to the present perfect continuous 2. 01:30 Continuing actions: meaning and comparison with present perfect 3. 04:24 Form and construction 4. 07:36 Uses: ongoing actions and recently finished actions 5. 09:50 Common time expressions with 'for' and 'since' 6. 11:50 Stative vs dynamic verbs 7. 14:30 Negative forms and contractions 8. 18:00 Spelling rules and question forms Answers ## Questions about this video What is the present perfect continuous used for? It is used for actions that started in the past and are still continuing now, or that stopped only recently. The video stresses that it links past and present and emphasizes the process or duration of the activity. Why can't I say 'I am knowing the answer' or use stative verbs in this tense? Stative verbs such as 'know', 'like', and 'understand' describe states rather than actions, so they cannot take continuous forms. Rebecca advises using the present perfect instead, e.g. 'He has liked this book all his life'. How do you make the negative form of the present perfect continuous? Add 'not' after 'have' or 'has', giving 'have not been' or 'has not been' plus verb-ing. In conversation, speakers usually contract these to 'haven't been' or 'hasn't been', as in 'I haven't been working'. ## Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown 00:00 Speaker A Hi, I'm Rebecca, and welcome to this class on the present perfect continuous tense, which is also called the present perfect progressive tense. 00:20 Speaker A you learn and start using the different English verb tenses, step by step, okay? Now, the present perfect continuous is an advanced tense, and the fact that you're watching this video tells me that you are already at a high level of English. So, that's a great 00:40 Speaker A It's one tense, it just has two names, that's all right. 01:00 Speaker A this tense, okay? And I think you'll find it really useful. So, are you ready? Let's get started. 01:07 Speaker A So, this class is part of a series created by www.engvid.com to help you learn and start using the different English verb tenses, step by step, okay? 01:30 Speaker A So, it talks about an action that started in the past and it's still continuing now, okay? Something that started in the past and it's still going on now. Alright? So, let's look at an example to understand exactly how it works. So, I've written two sentences on 01:53 Speaker A Now, the present perfect continuous is an advanced tense, and the fact that you're watching this video tells me that you are already at a high level of English. 02:00 Speaker A So, the first sentence: I have cooked dinner. The second sentence: I have been cooking dinner. 02:11 Speaker A So, that's a great thing! 02:30 Speaker A I cooked it in the past and now, it's ready. Okay? I don't have to cook anymore. I'm finished. 02:39 Speaker A Feel good about it, okay? 02:59 Speaker A still continuing to cook. I'm not done yet. So, in this one, first of all, there's a difference because I'm not finished, it's still continuing, and secondly because the focus is more on the process, on the activity. Not so much on the result, okay? 03:18 Speaker A It's excellent to have reached that stage. 03:36 Speaker A So, let's just take a quick look at how this tense is formed. So, you have the subject, I, You, We, They, etc. You have two helping verbs, have been or has been, and then you have a verb + -ing. For example, "I have been learning." You can use this, you can use this 03:59 Speaker A What I will do in this class is to explain to you exactly what this tense is, when we use it, how we use it, so that you can start to speak and write more comfortably and confidently using this tense, okay? 04:24 Speaker A But here, we have to change it a little bit. He has been learning. She has been learning. 04:33 Speaker A And I think you'll find it really useful. 04:48 Speaker A Now, let's look at when to use the present perfect continuous tense. So, as I said earlier, you can use it for something that started in the past, and it still continues now. For example, "We have been working on this project for six months." What does that mean? We started 05:08 Speaker A So, are you ready? 05:27 Speaker A that they started six months ago and they are still working, alright? So, it combines that past and present. 05:36 Speaker A Let's get started. 05:56 Speaker A some other English proficiency exam, or you're writing at university level, then let's suppose you have a topic on Global Warming and you have to write about it. If you write a sentence like that, using one of these perfect tenses, you will definitely score much higher, because 06:14 Speaker A So, the present perfect continuous tense is a special tense in terms of time. 06:26 Speaker A Next, we can also use the present perfect continuous tense to talk about something that started in the past and it just finished recently, okay? I know I told you that it continues, but really, it was continuing and continuing and continuing until just now. For example, 06:47 Speaker A Why? 07:01 Speaker A I've been calling you for hours." That means you're calling in all the time in the past, including almost just now, until the friend called. Okay? So, here's "I've been calling". 07:16 Speaker A Because it connects or links both the present and the past. 07:32 Speaker A know. Okay? And you've been waiting and waiting and waiting and your friend's not coming, you don't know what happened to them. And the finally, your friend shows up and you said, "Hey, where have you been? We've been waiting for you." We have been waiting. So 07:50 Speaker A It doesn't talk only about the present or only about the past, it connects them. 08:01 Speaker A You can also use this tense with a lot of common expressions. Let me show you what they are. Let's take this sentence: I've been studying for three hours. So, "I've been studying" is the tense itself, and the word "for" is very often used with this tense. Let's look 08:23 Speaker A Let's see how. 08:43 Speaker A about a point in time. Alright? Since 5:00, let's say it's 8:00 now. I've been studying for three hours, or I've been studying since 5:00, alright? Good. 08:58 Speaker A So, it talks about an action that started in the past and it's still continuing now, okay? 09:06 Speaker A And this is the expression. We could say, "all day", "all night", "all morning", "all afternoon", "all evening", okay? Doesn't matter. But anything like that which suggests a period of time and that something can continue during that period, okay? 09:27 Speaker A Something that started in the past and it's still going on now. 09:50 Speaker A So, these are the main situations in which we can use this tense. So, in English, we have two kinds of verbs. Dynamic verbs and stative verbs. Dynamic verbs are like action verbs, and stative verbs describe some kind of state or condition. Most verbs 10:09 Speaker A Alright? 10:34 Speaker A tense, or any continuous tense, you cannot use stative verbs. No stative verbs, okay? So, let's look at some examples of what you cannot do and how you cannot use the present perfect continuous tense. 10:52 Speaker A So, let's look at an example to understand exactly how it works. 11:01 Speaker A Why? Because "know" is an example of a stative verb, and we cannot use stative verbs with this tense. So, this is wrong, okay? Completely wrong. And what you would need to do in that case is not use the present perfect continuous, but just use the present perfect. You could 11:23 Speaker A So, I've written two sentences on the board. 11:37 Speaker A The verb itself being stative means that we can't use it in the continuous form, okay? 11:42 Speaker A They are from two different tenses, but let's look at them and see how they're different. 11:51 Speaker A No. Why? Because "like" is another one of those stative verbs. So, you cannot use it in that continuous form. You can say, "He has liked this book all his life." So there, you're using what? Present perfect and not present perfect continuous. 12:14 Speaker A So, the first sentence: I have cooked dinner. 12:35 Speaker A not understood this lecture." And this is an example of a present perfect sentence, okay? So, if you're trying to express some ideas, think about whether the verb is stative or dynamic. If it's stative, you cannot use the present perfect continuous tense. 12:53 Speaker A The second sentence: I have been cooking dinner. 13:17 Speaker A participle, but if you don't know that term or you don't like that word, forget about it. What it means is just the verb in its base form + -ing, alright? 13:29 Speaker A So, what's the difference between these two sentences? 13:52 Speaker A verb here is a regular verb first: to work. Our sample irregular verb is the verb "to go", alright? So, let's see how both of them can be used very easily in this tense. So, you could say, "I have been working". You have been working. We have been working. They 14:16 Speaker A Is there a difference? 14:32 Speaker A Let's say the air conditioner, okay? That's with the regular verb. If you have an irregular verb like "go", it's exactly the same thing. I have been going, you have been going, okay? No problem. That's in a positive sentence. 14:48 Speaker A Not just in the words, but I mean in the meaning. 15:03 Speaker A We have not been working. They have not been working. Okay, the "not" just makes it negative. 15:10 Speaker A Is there a difference in the meaning? 15:18 Speaker A How are we doing that? We're basically cancelling this o and we're joining the two words, have + not into one word, which is pronounced "haven't". Say it after me: haven't. Good. So, you could say, "I haven't been working". Okay? And most of the time in conversation, that's what we 15:41 Speaker A In English grammar, there is a difference, okay? 15:59 Speaker A has not been working. Or, "He hasn't been working". She hasn't been working. It hasn't been working. Okay? Say it after me: hasn't. Good. We're going to practice that a little bit more soon. 16:16 Speaker A Because if I say, "I have cooked dinner", it means I cooked it in the past and now, it's ready. 16:31 Speaker A Right? It's the same for everyone. Has he been working? Has she been working? Has it been working? Okay? So again, the "have" with "I, You, We and They", and "has" with "He, She, and It". And we still have to have the "have" and the "been", you see that everywhere, 16:52 Speaker A Okay? 17:11 Speaker A want, plus -ing. And that's basically how we construct the present perfect continuous tense. Now remember that just like in many other tenses, if you want to add like, a question word, then you can do that, you just have to put it in the right place, like here. You could say, "Where 17:33 Speaker A I don't have to cook anymore. 17:40 Speaker A So, whenever you want to add those question words or phrases, you can do that, just put it here before this structure and keep the rest of the structure exactly like that, and you'll be absolutely fine. 17:53 Speaker A I'm finished. 18:15 Speaker A take an irregular verb like "think". I've been thinking about changing my job. I haven't been thinking of changing my job. Have you been thinking of changing your job? Okay? 18:29 Speaker A And when I say, "I have cooked dinner", I'm only interested in the result, which is that I don't need to cook anymore, I'm done. 18:35 Speaker A Now, let's look at contractions and pronunciation to make sure that you can spell and say the words associated with this tense correctly. Let's get started. So, the first one: I have been working. That's the full form, but as I said, when we're speaking, we usually shorten 18:57 Speaker A But, if I say, "I have been cooking dinner", that means I started cooking in the past, and I'm still cooking now. 19:18 Speaker A what did we take out here? "I've" is short for "I have", so we took out the h and the a and we added an apostrophe and we joined these two words. So, "I have" becomes "I've". 19:36 Speaker A I haven't finished. 20:00 Speaker A do there? What did we take out? We took out - took "have not", it became "haven't". So, we took out what? We took out the o, added the apostrophe and we joined those two words. 20:15 Speaker A I'm still continuing to cook. 20:40 Speaker A listeners, so "I haven't", "I haven't been working". There's a "t" sound at the end. 20:48 Speaker A I'm not done yet. 21:21 Speaker A "We have not been working" becomes "We haven't been working". "They have not been working" becomes "They haven't been working". Okay? Let's say it again quickly. You haven't been. 21:43 Speaker A So, in this one, first of all, there's a difference because I'm not finished, it's still continuing, and secondly because the focus is more on the process, on the activity. 22:00 Speaker A Now, what happens with "He, She, and It"? A similar idea. "He has been working" becomes what, when we shorten it? "He's been working". Okay? So, what happened here? "He has", we took out this, right? And we just put the apostrophe. Alright? And that becomes "He's". 22:24 Speaker A Not so much on the result, okay? 22:41 Speaker A Good. If we make it negative, "He has not been working" becomes what? "He hasn't been working". So, what happened here? This is short for "has not". We took out the o, we added the apostrophe and we contracted those words, so we say, "He hasn't been working". Good. Let's do the 23:08 Speaker A So, this second one that we looked at, "I have been cooking dinner", is the tense we're learning here. 23:19 Speaker A Now, you see this "been". I'm really saying it pretty short and fast, right? I'm not saying "beeeen", it's "beeeen" a long time, no. It's been, it's short, alright? So, make sure you're doing that. 23:35 Speaker A This is the present perfect continuous tense. 23:54 Speaker A You say it, good. Okay? So now, you know the contractions and the pronunciation of this tense. 24:03 Speaker A That first example you looked at was the present perfect tense by itself, alright? 24:28 Speaker A is to just add that -ing. However, there are a few exceptions. For verbs ending in a e to begin with, we have to drop the e and then add the -ing. For example, the word "change", right, it ends with an 24:47 Speaker A So, let's just take a quick look at how this tense is formed. 25:05 Speaker A Next, verbs that end in ie. There, we have to change the ie to a y. For example, "tie" becomes "tying". "Lie" with lie becomes "lying" with lying. Alright? 25:27 Speaker A So, you have the subject, I, You, We, They, etc. 25:51 Speaker A look at it, if it - we look at it from the end, alright? If this letter is a consonant and then a vowel and then a consonant, then what you have to do is to double the last letter. For example, "plan" becomes "planning". "Run", right, if we look at it from here, 26:15 Speaker A You have two helping verbs, have been or has been, and then you have a verb + -ing. 26:29 Speaker A Now, let's look at how to give a short answer in a polite way using this tense. So, let's suppose that somebody asks you, "Have you been going to the gym?" Your answer is probably going to be "Yes" or "No", right? But in English, we don't usually just say "yes" or "no", we 26:48 Speaker A For example, "I have been learning." 26:54 Speaker A So, let's look at how it works. So, if they ask you, "Have you been going to the gym?" You could say, "Yes, I have", or "No, I haven't". And you get this part from the question itself, right? The question 27:13 Speaker A You can use this, you can use this right now, because let's say you started learning English in the past, and you're still learning now, right? 27:32 Speaker A The same thing here. Let's look at this example: Has he been helping you? So, what could you say? "Yes, he has", or "No, he hasn't". And once again, we have to use no contraction. 27:51 Speaker A So, you could say, "I have been learning English for some time." 28:12 Speaker A I haven't". One more question: Have you been working hard recently? "Yes, I have", or "No, I haven't". 28:24 Speaker A Okay? 28:34 Speaker A Now, let's do some practice. So, what I've done is I've written some phrases and some sentences on the board. And what we will do orally, this time we're not going to write it, we're just going to say it, is we're going to take these phrases and change them into 28:51 Speaker A So, I have been learning. 29:06 Speaker A So, let me show you an example with number one. So here, it says, "They watch". So, if we want to change this, which is right now, all present simple, okay? "They watch". If we want to change it to present perfect continuous, what does it become? "They have been watching". 29:30 Speaker A You have been learning. 29:47 Speaker A Number three: It works - It has been working. You attend - You have been attending. Good! 30:03 Speaker A We have been learning. 30:20 Speaker A They go - They have been going. She organizes - She has been organizing. Okay? Good. 30:34 Speaker A They have been learning. 30:57 Speaker A She sleeps - She hasn't been sleeping. It works - It hasn't been working. You attend - You haven't been attending. 31:18 Speaker A But here, we have to change it a little bit. 31:36 Speaker A She organizes - She hasn't been organizing. Okay? Very nice, good for you! Now, there are two more. So, let's see what we can do with them. So now, this is a full sentence in the present perfect continuous tense, two sentences, and we're going to make 31:55 Speaker A He has been learning. 32:05 Speaker A Make it negative: They haven't been living in New York. Make it a question: Have they been living in New York? Good! 32:21 Speaker A She has been learning. 32:41 Speaker A So now, let's look at some common mistakes that are made with this tense and how you can avoid them. So, the mistakes tend to be of three different kinds. Sometimes, the wrong verb is used. Sometimes, the wrong tense is used, and sometimes, the wrong word is used. 33:00 Speaker A It has been learning. 33:10 Speaker A Tell me why. Why is it wrong? Because it's the wrong verb being used in the wrong way. 33:20 Speaker A It might be a computer or artificial intelligence, okay? 33:40 Speaker A tense and not the present perfect continuous with this verb. Okay? Next, sometimes the wrong tense is used by a student. For example, this student wrote: I am working here since 2018. That's wrong. Why? Because this is actually present continuous, 34:06 Speaker A So here, you see the difference between "have been" and "has been". 34:28 Speaker A continuous, which connects the past and the present. So here, it should have been: I have been working here since 2018. So, in this case, sometimes you have to identify, is this the right place to use the present perfect tense? Which other tenses are there? What 34:47 Speaker A And we'll be looking at all of this much more in detail as we go forward. 35:08 Speaker A of this word, "since", right? We can't use "since" like that. "Since" is supposed to be used with what? A point in time, not a period of time. The correct sentence would have been: I've been living here for three years. Okay? "For three years", "since 2018", 35:33 Speaker A Now, let's look at when to use the present perfect continuous tense. 35:39 Speaker A So, to review, you know the present perfect continuous tense when you know when to use it and how to use it. So, let's review again the "how to use it" part. 35:51 Speaker A So, as I said earlier, you can use it for something that started in the past, and it still continues now. 36:00 Speaker A The question: Has it been snowing all day? Alright? When you can do that and move quickly between the positive, the negative, the question, then you have mastered how to construct this tense, and how to formulate the sentence or 36:16 Speaker A For example, "We have been working on this project for six months." 36:37 Speaker A and you have serious goals and you are achieving them, okay? So, I really congratulate you on that. 36:43 Speaker A What does that mean? 36:50 Speaker A What have you been doing recently? Write about yourself, write a few things, okay? What have you been doing recently? What have you been studying recently? What have you been learning recently? What have you been watching? What have you been doing in general, okay? Write 37:08 Speaker A We started working in the past, six months ago, and we have been working and working and working and working, so therefore, you can say, "We have been working". 37:17 Speaker A Now, after that, if you'd like, it's time to move on when you feel you've understood this tense well, then move on to the next tense in our series, which is the past perfect tense. Alright? And in case you feel that you'd like to review a little bit more, then 37:36 Speaker A So, "have been working", that's the tense, the present perfect continuous tense, alright? Topics: present perfect continuous present perfect progressive English grammar English tenses stative verbs dynamic verbs ESL verb tenses engVid learn English Study this video - [Flashcards from this video](https://sozai.app/tools/ai-flashcard-generator/?from=transcript&id=81850) - [Quiz on this video](https://sozai.app/tools/quiz-generator/?from=transcript&id=81850) Free, made by AI from this transcript. 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