TITC

Present perfect continuous

Exercises

A Correct the sentences below for present perfect continuous form:

Example: I have been worked here for three years.

_____I have been working here for three years._____

1. They has been playing all day.

___________________________________________________

2. She have been cooking lunch since one o’clock.

___________________________________________________

3. Dave has been fix his car for three months now.

___________________________________________________

4. It has raining since this morning.

___________________________________________________

5. I have been to running in the park.

___________________________________________________

6. She has been play tennis for hours!

___________________________________________________

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B Write sentences in the present perfect continuous
which are true for you and/or your partner:

Example: I have been learning English for six months now.

1. ____________________________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________________________

4. ____________________________________________________________

5. ____________________________________________________________

6. ____________________________________________________________

C Now switch partners and ask what they have been doing.

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ACTIVATE

Survey to find out who has been _________ for the longest in the class:
Question: How long have you _____________________________ ?

Names

study/English

lived/in this city

drive/car

play/a sport

work

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Present perfect continuous
In this lesson we will look at two uses of the present perfect continuous

1. To talk about actions which began in the past, continued to the present and may or may not
continue in the future. Using ‘for’ and ‘since’

2. To show the present result of a past activity.

ENGAGE
Questions and Answers session

Ask the students a series of “How long have you been…?” questions.

E.g. How long have you been living in ___________?

How long have you been studying English?

We are not looking for any specific language or vocabulary here - just to get the students
talking and boarding their language responses.

Show a picture of someone who is wet, or sweating, etc, and ask the students if they can
guess why he is wet, or sweating.

Again write their ideas on the board, but you are not looking for specific answers.

STUDY
Look at some of the language generated in the study section; hopefully you will have
something like this:

1. I have been living in X for three years or I have been living in X since 1999

2. He has been running

Elicit from the students the structure of these sentences

I.e. subject + have/has + been + verb+ing

Try to elicit the uses of the type 1 and type 2 sentences

E.g. Type 1 = To talk about actions which began in the past , continued to the present and
may or may not continue in the future. Using ‘for’ and ‘since’

and

Type 2 = To show the present result of a past activity.

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Elicit some more example sentences from the students and ask others to identify the parts
that make them present perfect continuous, and if they are type 1 or 2.

Run through the question form.

Type 1 answers will come from “How long” type questions, so

Q ._____________________________________?

A. I’ve been working here for two years.

Type 2 answers will come from “What has s/he been doing” type questions, so

Q _____________________________________?

A. He has been running ( that’s why he’s sweating ).

Written activities

Study 1:

A Correct the sentences below for present perfect continuous form

Study 2:

B Write sentences in the present perfect continuous which are true for
you and/or your partner
Study 3:

C Now switch partners and ask what they have been doing.
Ask them to change partners. If the students are arranged in a horseshoe shape, this is best
done by moving one student from one end of the horseshoe to the other, and re-assigning
pairs.

ACTIVATE
“Who has been _____________________ the longest in the class?”

Demonstrate first!

Survey Mill drill activity

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