 Present Perfect Continuous Tense  Past Perfect Continuous Tense  Future Perfect Continuous Tense

The structure of the present perfect continuous tense is: subject auxiliary verb main verb Comp. +Ihave beenwaitingfor one hour. +Youhave beentalkingtoo much. -Ithasnotbeenraining. -Wehavenotbeenplayingfootball. ?Haveyou beenseeingher? ?Havethey beendoingtheir homework?

How do we use the Present Perfect Continuous Tense? There are basically two uses for the present perfect continuous tense: 1. An action that has just stopped or recently stopped 2. An action continuing up to now

1. An action that has just stopped or recently stopped EXAMPLES :  I'm tired because I have been running.  Why is the grass wet? Has it been raining?  You don't understand because you have not been listening.

2. An action continuing up to now This is often used with for or since. 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.

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

The structure of the past perfect continuous tense is: subject auxiliary verb main verb Comp. Comp. +Ihad beenworking. +Youhad beenplaying tennis. -Ithadnotbeenworkingwell. -Wehadnotbeenexpectingher. ?Hadyou beendrinking? ?Hadthey beenwaitinglong?

How do we use the Past Perfect Continuous Tense? The past perfect continuous tense is like the past perfect tense, but it expresses longer actions in the past before another action in the past. EXAMPLE :  Ram started waiting at 9am. I arrived at 11am. When I arrived, Ram had been waiting for two hours.

EXAMPLES :  John was very tired. He had been running.  I could smell cigarettes. Somebody had been smoking.  Suddenly, my car broke down. I was not surprised. It had not been running well for a long time.  Had the pilot been drinking before the crash?

Another example… For example, imagine that you meet Ram at 11am. Ram says to you:  "I am angry. I have been waiting for two hours." Later, you tell your friends:  "Ram was angry. He had been waiting for two hours."

The structure of the future perfect continuous tense is: subject auxiliary verb main verb +Iwill havebeenworking for four hours. +Youwill havebeentravelling for two days. -Shewillnothavebeenusingthe car. -Wewillnothavebeenwaitinglong. ?Willyou havebeenplayingfootball? ?Willthey havebeenwatchingTV?

How do we use the Future Perfect Continuous Tense? We use the future perfect continuous tense to talk about a long action before some point in the future. EXAMPLE :  I will have been working here for ten years next week.  He will be tired when he arrives. He will have been travelling for 24 hours.