Perfect 

Progressive tenses
 Present Perfect Progressive 
Form: have or has + been + Ving

• We describe an action that begins in the past and lasts until a present or almost
present moment.
• We emphasise an action rather than a result.
We use Present Perfect Continious:

1. to express an action in the recent past with emphasis on the action itself and not the result
Aaron has been changing tyres all morning.

2. to express a single continuing action that started in the past and is incomplete at the
present moment
He has been learning in this school for five years.

3. to express repeated actions that started in the past and continue now.
Aaron has been repairing cars since he was sixteen years old.
 Past Perfect Progressive 

Form: had + been + Ving

• We describe an action that was continuously in progress before the specific time in

the past.
•  It emphasises the process of an action rather than the completion
We use Past Perfect Continious to express:

1. an action that started before a certain time in the past and was interrupted by a second action
Louise had been practising for hours when Mark knocked on the door.

2. an action that started and ended before a certain time in the past but the effect of this action
was still important at that moment
When I saw Louise, she was tired because she had been practising all day.

3. an action that started before a certain time in the past and wasn’t completed at that time
She had been practising for a very long time, but she still hadn’t mastered the piece.
 Present Perfect Continious
positive negative question

I/you/we/they I have been speaking I have not been speaking Have I been speaking?

he/she/it
He has been speaking He has not been speaking Has he been speaking?

Past Perfect Continious
positive negative question

all forms are the same I had been speaking I had not been speaking Had I been speaking?

 Future Perfect Progressive 
Form: will + have+ been + Ving

• We refer to an activity that will be continuously in progress before a future time.

• This tense also expresses assumptions about that will likely have happened by a
certain time.
We use Future Perfect Continious to:

1. emphasise the length of an action in progress at a certain time in the future, usually with
reference to the duration of the action
In ten minutes you will have been driving non-stop for six hours

2. express what we imagine or think is happening at a certain future time

The cars will have been waiting for hours for the accident to be cleared.
 Future Perfect Continious

positive negative question

all forms are the same I will have been speaking I will not have been speaking Will I have been speaking?
 Exercises 

1. They … (to celebrate) their wedding since last Friday.

2. Wake up! You … (to sleep) for 12 hours already!
3. He said he … (to wait) for us for half an hour.
4. By tonight I … (to keep) to a diet for 2 weeks already.
5. The boy took the toys which little Mary … (to play) with.
6. I … (to play) the violin for a long time when my friends came.