Present Perfect Continuous

Present Perfect Continuous (Presente perfecto continuo) Ver tabla de conjugacion: Present Perfect Continuous

El presente perfecto continuo, muchas veces tiene la equivalencia de la traducción "llevar + gerundio" en español, pero el uso de esta forma es más frecuente en inglés. Se utiliza para acciones que has empezado en el pasado pero continuan en el presente.

Grammatical Rules (Reglas gramaticales)

Form (Forma) Como en el presente perfecto, usamos el verbo auxiliar "to have" además de "been" (el participio pasado del verbo "to be") y más el gerundio del verbo. Subject

Auxiliaries

Gerund

I, You, We, They

have been

talking, studying, waiting...

has been

talking, studying, waiting...

He, She, It

Structure (Estructura) 1. Affirmative Sentences (Frases afirmativas) EstructuraSujeto + verbo auxiliar ("to have") + "been" + gerundio.

o

Ejemplos:

o

Play They've been talking for three hours. (Han estado hablando durante tres horas.) Play She has been studying English since she was 16. (Ha estado estudiando inglés desde que tenía 16

o

años.)

Play I've been waiting for you for over an hour! (¡Te llevo esperando durante más de una hora!) 2. Negative Sentences (Frases negativas) EstructuraSujeto + verbo auxiliar ("to have") + "not" + "been" + gerundio.

o

o

Ejemplos:

o

Play They haven't been talking for more than a few minutes. (No han estado hablando más de unos minutos.)

o

Play She hasn't been studying English for very long. (No ha estado estudiando inglés durante mucho tiempo.)

o

Play

Don't worry, I haven't been waiting long. (No te preocupes, no llevo esperando mucho tiempo.) 3. Interrogative Sentences (Frases interrogativas) EstructuraVerbo auxiliar ("to have") + sujeto + "been" + gerundio?

o

Ejemplos:

o

Play Have they been talking for a long time? (¿Han estado hablando durante mucho tiempo?)

o o

Play Has Mary been waiting long? (¿Lleva Mary esperando mucho tiempo?)

Use (Uso) Usamos este tiempo cuando queremos expresar el sentido de la continuidad de una acción que ha comenzado en el pasado y que dura todavía en el presente o que acaba de terminar. Nos referimos a algo que hemos estado haciendo en un período de tiempo, por lo tanto, usamos las preposiciones de tiempo "for" y "since". Si usamos el presente perfecto continuo sin un período de tiempo, significa "lately" o "recently".



Ejemplos:



Play I can't believe it is still raining. It's been raining for a week now! (No puedo creer que todavía esté lloviendo. Lleva lloviendo desde hace una semana!)

 

Play John has been working at the bank since 2003. (John lleva trabajando en el banco desde 2003.) Play We've been planning our vacation for over a month. (Llevamos planeando nuestras vacaciones desde hace más de un mes.)



Play Amanda and Tom have been dating since last June. (Amanda y Tom han estado saliendo desde el junio pasado.)

  

Play He hasn't been studying enough. (No ha estado estudiando bastante.) Play Have you been feeling ok lately? (¿Te has sentido bien últimamente?) Play I've been working too much. (He estado trabajando demasiado.)

Present Perfect Continuous FORM [has/have + been + present participle]

Examples: 

You have been waiting here for two hours.  Have you been waiting here for two hours?  You have not been waiting here for two hours. Complete List of Present Perfect Continuous Forms

USE 1 Duration from the Past Until Now

We use the Present Perfect Continuous to show that something started in the past and has continued up until now. "For five minutes," "for two weeks," and "since Tuesday" are all durations which can be used with the Present Perfect Continuous. Examples:      

They have been talking for the last hour. She has been working at that company for three years. What have you been doing for the last 30 minutes? James has been teaching at the university since June. We have been waiting here for over two hours! Why has Nancy not been taking her medicine for the last three days?

USE 2 Recently, Lately

You can also use the Present Perfect Continuous WITHOUT a duration such as "for two weeks." Without the duration, the tense has a more general meaning of "lately." We often use the words "lately" or "recently" to emphasize this meaning. Examples:     

Recently, I have been feeling really tired. She has been watching too much television lately. Have you been exercising lately? Mary has been feeling a little depressed. Lisa has not been practicing her English.



What have you been doing?

IMPORTANT Remember that the Present Perfect Continuous has the meaning of "lately" or "recently." If you use the Present Perfect Continuous in a question such as "Have you been feeling alright?", it can suggest that the person looks sick or unhealthy. A question such as "Have you been smoking?" can suggest that you smell the smoke on the person. Using this tense in a question suggests you can see, smell, hear or feel the results of the action. It is possible to insult someone by using this tense incorrectly.

REMEMBER Non-Continuous Verbs/ Mixed Verbs It is important to remember that Non-Continuous Verbs cannot be used in any continuous tenses. Also, certain non-continuous meanings for Mixed Verbs cannot be used in continuous tenses. Instead of using Present Perfect Continuous with these verbs, you must use Present Perfect. Examples: 

Sam has been having his car for two years. Not Correct  Sam has had his car for two years. Correct

ADVERB PLACEMENT The examples below show the placement for grammar adverbs such as: always, only, never, ever, still, just, etc. Examples: 

You have only been waiting here for one hour.  Have you only been waiting here for one hour?

ACTIVE / PASSIVE Examples: 

Recently, John has been doing the work. ACTIVE  Recently, the work has been being done by John. PASSIVE NOTE: Present Perfect Continuous is less commonly used in its passive form.

Present Perfect Continuous Uso. Estructura. Aspectos a Recordar

El 'Present Perfect Continuous' (o Presente Perfecto Continuo) se utiliza principalmente para hablar de acciones que ocurrieron en el pasado y continúan en el presente. Ellos han estado jugando todo el día.

¿CÓMO SE FORMA? El Presente Perfecto Continuo se forma con el verbo 'to have' acompañado de un participio y un verbo terminado en -ing. AFIRMATIVA: Para formar la afirmativa ponemos la forma correspondiente del auxiliar 'have' acompañado del participio 'been' y un verbo en -ing. SUJETO + HAVE/HAS

+ BEEN + VERBO EN -ING + RESTO DE FRASE

Ellos han estado jugando todo el día.

They have been playing all day. * Podemos ver este verbo contraído también (they've / she's) NEGATIVA: Para formar la negativa tenemos que negar el auxiliar 'have'. Recuerda que 'have' actúa como auxiliar, por lo que puede negarse a si mismo. SUJETO + HAVEN'T/HASN'T

+ BEEN + VERBO EN -ING + RESTO DE FRASE

Ellos no han estado jugando todo el día.

They haven't been playing all day. * Al igual que en afirmativa, podemos encontrar la forma completa (have not / has not) o la forma contraída (hasn't / haven't)

INTERROGATIVA: Para formar la interrogativa tenemos que invertir el auxiliar 'have' y el sujeto. HAVE/HAS

+ SUJETO + PARTICIPIO + VERBO EN -ING + RESTO DE FRASE? ¿Han estado ellos jugando todo el día?

Have they been playing all day?

¿QUÉ DEBO RECORDAR? Lo importante que debemos tener en cuenta es lo siguiente: · Debemos tener en cuenta que la tercera persona es 'has' y para el resto de personas utilizamos 'have'. · Recuerda las reglas de ortografía propias de los verbos terminados en -ing. Puedes consultarlos en la sección del Presente Continuo. Aunque su uso principal es el que les he comentado anteriormente, podemos encontrar varios usos de este tiempo. · Acciones que empezaron en el pasado y continúan en el presente (I.e. They have been playing all day). · También se utiliza para hablar de una acción pasada que seguramente ha terminado recientemente. (I.e. The alarm has been sounding all night). · Además, es utilizado para acciones pasadas que acaban de terminar y que lo sabemos por algo evidente (I.e. Have you been reading?)

Present perfect continuous Se forma con el sujeto + have/has + been + gerundio Ejemplo: I have been studying

Se usa: 1. Para hablar de una acción que ha acabado hace poco ó que acaba de terminar. Ejemplo: You look tired. Yes I have been running. 2. También se usa para decir cuanto tiempo ha durado una actividad. 3. Se usa con preguntas con how long y since y for. Ejemplos:How long have you been living here? ¿Cuanto tiempo llevas viviendo aquí? I have been living here since 2006. Vivo aquí desde 2006. I have been living in this flat for 2 years. Llevo 2 años viviendo en este piso. ¿Cual es la diferencia entre el present perfect y el present perfect continuo? 1. Cuando usas el present perfecto continuo el énfasis esta en la duración de la actividad. Ejemplo: It has been raining for 2 hours. Lleva dos horas lloviendo. 2. También se usa para estas mas interesada en una acción que no esta terminada todavía. Ejemplo: I have been doing my homework. He estado haciendo mis deberes. 3. Se usa el present perfect simple para decir que algo esta acabado. Ejemplos: I have written a letter. He escrito una carta. (la carta esta terminada) I have been writing a letter. He estado escribiendo una carta. (la carta no esta terminada) 4. Se usa el present perfect continuo para decir cuanto tiempo ha durado la actividad. Ejemplo: I have been writing this letter for an hour. Llevo una hora escribiendo esta carta. 5. Se usa el present perfect simple para decir cuantas cosas hemos hecho o cuantas veces hemos hecho algo. Ejemplo: I have read 3 chapters of this book. He leído 3 capítulos de este libro. I have been to the beach everyday this week. Esta semana he ido a la playa todos los dias. 6. A veces no hay gran diferencia entre las dos. Ejemplo: I have been living here since 2006. I have lived here since 2006. Las dos frases se pueden traducir como - Vivo aqui desde 2006. Ejercicio Completar las frases con el present perfect simple ó el present perfect continuo y después hagaclic aquí para ver las respuestas. 1.I ……………………….the house. (tidy) 2.He is dirty because he ………………….. the car. (repair) 3.I……………………my keys. (lost)

4.I ………………………dinner. (cook) ahora la cena esta lista 5.I ……………………..for 3 hours. (wait)

1.- Present perfect continuous Esta forma verbal se emplea cuando interesa destacar la acción en sí misma más que el resultado; no se precisa si la acción ha finalizado o no (la acción comenzó en el pasado y puede que acabe de terminar o que incluso continúe). I have been reading a book (resalto lo que he estado haciendo; no indico si he finalizado el libro o no) Este tiempo se utiliza también para indicar la duración de una acción que comenzó en el pasado (y que acaba de finalizar o aún continúa). I have been playing tennis for two hours I have been waiting for him for 1 hour (puede que la otra persona acabe de llegar o que yo aún siga esperando; el contexto determinará un sentido u otro) El empleo de este tiempo indica que el emisor considera que la duración ha sidolarga. 2.- Present perfect simple Describe una acción que comenzó en el pasado y que acaba de finalizar. Pone elénfasis en el resultado y no en la acción en si misma. I have read a book (destaco que he leído un libro, que lo he terminado, y no el hecho de haber dedicado un tiempo a la lectura). En el siguiente ejemplo se puede observar la diferencia entre estas dos formas verbales: I have done my homework (indico que ya lo he finalizado) I have been doing my homework (indico la actividad que he estado desarrollando; no informo de si he terminado mis deberes o no) Se utiliza también para indicar cuantas acciones se han realizado en un tiempo determinado.

Today I have read ten books El empleo de este tiempo informa indirectamente sobre el presente, ya que conlleva que la situación no ha cambiado. He has gone to Canada (esta persona sigue en Canda o está de viaje hacia allí; en cualquier caso todavía no ha regresado) I have broken my leg (la pierna sigue rota; aún no ha sanado) Si no se da información sobre el presente hay que utilizar el "past simple". He went to Canada (no se informa de si él sigue allí o ya volvió) I broke my leg (puede que la pierna ya esté curada o que aún siga rota) En aquellos verbos en los que no se utiliza la forma continua (lección 17) hay que recurrir en todos estos supuestos al "present perfect simple".

rogressive Present Perfect What have you been doing? ¿Qué has estado haciendo? subject + have / has + been + 1 > "ing"

1 go

2 went

3 gone

Affirmative

Negative

Interrogative

I have been going

I haven't been going

Have I been going ?

You have been going

You haven't been going

Have you been going ?

He has been going

He hasn't been going

Has he been going ?

She has been going

She hasn't been going

Has she been going ?

It has been going

It hasn't been going

Has it been going ?

We have been going

We haven't been going

Have we been going ?

You have been going

You haven't been going

Have you been going ?

They have been going Affirmative

They haven't been going

Have they been going ?

subject + have/has + been + 1 > "ing"

I have been going to New York - He estado yendo a New York He has been going to New York - El ha estado yendo a New York Negative

subject + haven't / hasn't + been + 1 > "ing"

I haven't been going to New York - No he estado yendo a New York

He hasn't been going to New York - El no ha estado yendo a New York

Interrogative

Have / Has + subject + been + 1 > "ing" ?

Have I been going to New York? - ¿He estado yendo a New York ?

Has he been going to New York? - ¿Ha estado él yendo a New York?

usos del presente perfecto continuo Actividades que comenzaron en el pasado y continúan en el presente y resaltan la duración del proceso. Monica and her husband have been living in Barcelona for ten years. Mónica y su esposo llevan viviendo en Barcelona diez años.

Acciones que comenzaron en el pasado y pueden o no haber finalizado recientemente y resaltan la duración del proceso. The weather is really bad. It has been raining all night. El tiempo está realmente malo. Ha estado lloviendo toda la noche.

Acciones del pasado que acaban de concluir y cuyo estado es evidente. Hmm. Nice smelling!! Have you been cooking your birthday cake? Hmm. ¡¡Qué lindo aroma!! ¿Has estado cocinando tu torta de cumpleaños?

PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS USO Utilizamos el presente perfecto continuo para hablar de una acción que se desarolló durante algún tiempo en el pasado y que acaba de terminar. Los efectos de dicha acción se hacen sentir en el presente. She has been running

Queremos decir con esto que estuvo corriendo, acaba de dejarlo, pero aún se siente cansada. We've been playing volleyball. They've been fighting. She's been washing her hair. Este último ejemplo significa que hace poco estaba lavándose la cabeza. Ahora ya no se está lavando, pero los efectos de la acción pueden verse en el presente: su pelo está aun húmedo, por ejemplo.

ESTRUCTURA Affirmative: we use have/has + been + the -ing form of the verb. He’s been writing letters all morning. Negative: we use haven’t/hasn’t + been + the -ing form of the verb. We haven’t been reading much lately. Interrogative: we put have/has before the subject + been + the -ing form of the verb. You look hot! Have you been running?

Present Perfect Continuous Tense I have been singing

How do we make the Present Perfect Continuous Tense? The structure of the present perfect continuous tense is: subject + auxiliary verb + auxiliary verb + main verb have has

been

base + ing

Here are some examples of the present perfect continuous tense: subject auxiliary verb

auxiliary verb

main verb

+ I

have

been

waiting

for one hour.

+ You

have

been

talking

too much.

-

It

has

not been

raining.

-

We

have

not been

playing

football.

? Have

you

been

seeing

her?

? Have

they

been

doing

their homework?

Contractions

When we use the present perfect continuous tense in speaking, we often contract the subject and the first auxiliary. We also sometimes do this in informal writing. I have been

I've been

You have been

You've been

He has been She has been It has been John has been The car has been

He's been She's been It's been John's been The car's been

We have been

We've been

They have been

They've been

Here are some examples:   

I've been reading. The car's been giving trouble. We've been playing tennis for two hours.

How do we use the Present Perfect Continuous Tense? This tense is called the present perfect continuous tense. There is usually a connection with thepresent or now. There are basically two uses for the present perfect continuous tense:

1. An action that has just stopped or recently stopped We use the present perfect continuous tense to talk about an action that started in the past and stopped recently. There is usually a result now. I'm tired because I've been running. past

present !!!

Recent action.

Result now.

future

  

I'm tired [now] because I've been running. Why is the grass wet [now]? Has it been raining? You don't understand [now] because you haven't been listening.

2. An action continuing up to now We use the present perfect continuous tense to talk about an action that started in the past and is continuing now. This is often used with for or since. I have been reading for 2 hours. past

present

Action started in past.

Action is continuing now.

   

future

I have been reading for 2 hours. [I am still reading now.] We've been studying since 9 o'clock. [We're still studying now.] How long have you been learning English? [You are still learning now.] We have not been smoking. [And we are not smoking now.]

For and Since with Present Perfect Continuous Tense We often use for and since with the present perfect tense.  

We use for to talk about a period of time - 5 minutes, 2 weeks, 6 years. We use since to talk about a point in past time - 9 o'clock, 1st January, Monday. for

since

a period of time a point in past time

x 20 minutes

6.15pm

three days

Monday

6 months

January

4 years

1994

2 centuries

1800

a long time

I left school

ever

the beginning of time

etc

etc

Here are some examples:      

I have been studying for 3 hours. I have been watching TV since 7pm. Tara hasn't been feeling well for 2 weeks. Tara hasn't been visiting us since March. He has been playing football for a long time. He has been living in Bangkok since he left school.