Present Perfect Continuous – English Grammar Exercises for B1
You are standing in the hot sun. Your friend is 45 minutes late. You are very frustrated, sweaty, and exhausted, and you want to emphasize how long you have been suffering while waiting. Choose the best option (a, b, or c) to complete the sentences.
1 I ______ for you for 45 minutes! Where are you?
(a) am waiting
(b) have been waiting
(c) have wait
2 It is extremely hot today! I ______ under this sun since 2 PM.
(a) have been standing
(b) have stand
(c) stand
3 Why are you so late? What ______ doing?
(a) you have been
(b) have you been
(c) are you
4 My feet hurt. I ______ around this park looking for you.
(a) am walking
(b) have walk
(c) have been walking
5 She ______ to call you for half an hour! Why didn’t you answer?
(a) has been trying
(b) has trying
(c) is trying
6 You finally arrived! I ______ at my watch every two minutes.
(a) have look
(b) have been looking
(c) am looking
7 The sun ______ intensely since I got here. I need some water.
(a) is shining
(b) have been shining
(c) has been shining
8 How long ______ to get dressed? I cannot believe it took you this long!
(a) have you been taking
(b) are you taking
(c) have you taking
9 I’m sweating so much because I ______ in this heat wave.
(a) have bake
(b) am baking
(c) have been baking
10 We ______ this trip for weeks, and now you ruin the schedule!
(a) have been planning
(b) plan
(c) has been planning
11 ______ to my text messages at all? I told you to hurry up!
(a) Have you been paying attention
(b) Are you paying attention
(c) Do you paying attention
12 I ______ my patience for the last 20 minutes!
(a) am losing
(b) have been losing
(c) have losing
13 Why is your face so red? ______ to get here?
(a) Do you run
(b) Have you runned
(c) Have you been running
14 I ______ about leaving without you before you finally showed up.
(a) have been thinking
(b) am thinking
(c) have think
15 I ______ you since high school, but I’ve never seen you this late!
(a) have known
(b) have been knowing
(c) am knowing
16 My phone battery is dying because I ______ you continuously.
(a) have calling
(b) have been calling
(c) am calling
17 The ice in my drink ______ for the past half hour. It’s just warm water now.
(a) has been melting
(b) is melting
(c) have been melting
18 I’m completely exhausted. I ______ this heavy backpack while waiting for you!
(a) have carried
(b) have been carrying
(c) has been carrying
19 It’s hard to breathe. The humidity ______ worse and worse since 1 PM.
(a) has been getting
(b) is getting
(c) has getting
20 You ______ sorry since you got here, but apologies don’t cool me down!
(a) are saying
(b) have been saying
(c) have been say
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (b)
Explanation:
- Correct (b): “Have been waiting” correctly emphasizes the continuous, ongoing duration of the action up to now.
- Incorrect (a): Present Continuous (“am waiting”) is a common mistake. It only focuses on the present moment, ignoring the 45-minute duration.
- Incorrect (c): Basic grammar error. The structure requires “been” + V-ing.
2 (a)
Explanation:
- Correct (a): We use Present Perfect Continuous with “since” to show an action started in the past and is still happening.
- Incorrect (c): Present Simple (“stand”) is a common mistake; it describes a routine, not a continuous action starting from the past.
- Incorrect (b): Grammar error. Missing “been” and the “-ing” form.
3 (b)
Explanation:
- Correct (b): “Have you been” is the correct inverted question form for this tense.
- Incorrect (c): Common mistake. “Are you doing” asks about the exact current moment, not the time spent before arriving.
- Incorrect (a): Grammar error. Subject and auxiliary verb are not inverted for a question.
4 (c)
Explanation:
- Correct (c): “Have been walking” links the past action to the present visible result (feet hurting).
- Incorrect (a): Common mistake. Present Continuous (“am walking”) doesn’t convey the accumulated exhaustion over time.
- Incorrect (b): Grammar error. Wrong verb form entirely.
5 (a)
Explanation:
- Correct (a): “Has been trying” matches the singular subject “She” and the duration “for half an hour.”
- Incorrect (c): Common mistake. Present Continuous ignores the time marker “for half an hour.”
- Incorrect (b): Grammar error. Missing the auxiliary “been”.
6 (b)
Explanation:
- Correct (b): “Have been looking” highlights the repeated, frustrating action over a period of time.
- Incorrect (c): Common mistake. Focuses only on right now, losing the sense of impatience.
- Incorrect (a): Grammar error. Uses base verb instead of past participle or continuous form.
7 (c)
Explanation:
- Correct (c): “Has been shining” correctly uses the singular auxiliary “has” for “the sun”.
- Incorrect (a): Common mistake. “Is shining” fails to connect with “since I got here”.
- Incorrect (b): Grammar error. “The sun” is singular, so “have” is incorrect.
8 (a)
Explanation:
- Correct (a): “Have you been taking” focuses on the unexpectedly long duration of getting dressed.
- Incorrect (b): Common mistake. Using Present Continuous for an action that has duration up to now.
- Incorrect (c): Grammar error. Missing “been”.
9 (c)
Explanation:
- Correct (c): The Present Perfect Continuous emphasizes the process (“baking” in the heat) that caused the present result (“sweating”).
- Incorrect (b): Common mistake. Present Continuous doesn’t express the accumulated time causing the sweat.
- Incorrect (a): Grammar error. “Have bake” is structurally invalid.
10 (a)
Explanation:
- Correct (a): “Have been planning” shows an ongoing process leading up to this disappointing moment.
- Incorrect (b): Common mistake. Present Simple (“plan”) suggests a general fact, missing the ongoing duration of “for weeks”.
- Incorrect (c): Grammar error. “We” requires “have”, not “has”.
11 (a)
Explanation:
- Correct (a): Asking about an ongoing action over the recent waiting period.
- Incorrect (b): Common mistake. “Are you paying attention” only asks about this exact second.
- Incorrect (c): Grammar error. “Do” cannot be followed by an “-ing” verb.
12 (b)
Explanation:
- Correct (b): Emphasizes the progressive loss of patience over the 20-minute period.
- Incorrect (a): Common mistake. Omits the connection to the time frame (“for the last 20 minutes”).
- Incorrect (c): Grammar error. Missing the word “been”.
13 (c)
Explanation:
- Correct (c): The action of running has recently stopped, but the side effect (red face) is visible now. This is a classic use of Present Perfect Continuous.
- Incorrect (a): Common mistake. “Do you run” asks about a habit.
- Incorrect (b): Grammar error. “Runned” is not a word (the past participle of run is run), and Present Perfect Simple focuses on completion, not the exhausting process.
14 (a)
Explanation:
- Correct (a): Shows a continuous thought process (“thinking about leaving”) over the waiting period.
- Incorrect (b): Common mistake. Loses the past-to-present duration.
- Incorrect (c): Grammar error. Structurally incorrect verb form.
15 (a)
Explanation:
- Correct (a): “Have known”. Exception! “Know” is a stative verb (verb of state/mind) and cannot normally be used in continuous tenses, even when there is a duration (“since high school”). We must use Present Perfect Simple.
- Incorrect (b): Common mistake. Applying the continuous rule to a stative verb.
- Incorrect (c): Grammar error. “Know” is not used in Present Continuous either.
16 (b)
Explanation:
- Correct (b): Emphasizes the repeated action (calling) causing a present result (battery dying).
- Incorrect (c): Common mistake. “Am calling” means I am doing it exactly right now, ignoring the accumulation.
- Incorrect (a): Grammar error. Missing “been”.
17 (a)
Explanation:
- Correct (a): “Has been melting” describes an ongoing physical process matching the singular subject “ice”.
- Incorrect (b): Common mistake. Present Continuous ignores the phrase “for the past half hour”.
- Incorrect (c): Grammar error. “Ice” is an uncountable noun (singular), so “have” is incorrect.
18 (b)
Explanation:
- Correct (b): Focuses on the physically exhausting process of carrying the bag for 45 minutes.
- Incorrect (a): Common mistake. Present Perfect Simple (“have carried”) focuses on the finished fact, but the context heavily emphasizes the continuous exhaustion and process.
- Incorrect (c): Grammar error. “I” goes with “have”, not “has”.
19 (a)
Explanation:
- Correct (a): Used to describe an evolving or changing situation (getting worse) over a period of time.
- Incorrect (b): Common mistake. Present Continuous does not account for the timeline “since 1 PM”.
- Incorrect (c): Grammar error. Missing “been”.
20 (b)
Explanation:
- Correct (b): Highlights the repeated, ongoing apologies that are failing to calm the person down.
- Incorrect (a): Common mistake. Misses the connection to the starting point (“since you got here”).
- Incorrect (c): Grammar error. Requires the V-ing form (“saying”) after “have been”.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
The Present Perfect Continuous (have/has been + V-ing)
- Focus on Duration: We use this tense to emphasize how long an action has been happening (often with for, since, all morning, how long). It perfectly expresses frustration, exhaustion, or annoyance about an ongoing situation.
- Example: I have been waiting for 45 minutes! (Process & Frustration).
- Present Results of a Recent Process: We use it when an action has just stopped, but we can see, feel, or hear the results now.
- Example: I’m sweating because I have been standing in the sun.
- The Exception (Stative Verbs): Verbs describing states, feelings, or mental processes (e.g., know, like, love, hate, belong, understand) are not used in continuous tenses. You must use the Present Perfect Simple instead.
- Correct: I have known him for years.
- Incorrect: I have been knowing him for years.