Present Perfect Continuous – English Grammar Exercises for B1
You are in a weekly meeting reporting to your boss. You are discussing a major project that is not yet finished. You want to emphasize that your team has been working extremely hard, continuously, and is still fully dedicated to completing the tasks. Choose the best option (a, b, or c) to complete the sentences.
1 Boss, I want to assure you that we ______ hard on this project since last month.
(a) have working
(b) have been working
(c) are working
2 The marketing team ______ the new campaign materials for two weeks.
(a) is preparing
(b) has preparing
(c) has been preparing
3 I ______ the client’s data all morning, so I should finish the final report soon.
(a) have been analyzing
(b) analyze
(c) have be analyzing
4 “How long ______ on this specific task, John?” the boss asked.
(a) are you focusing
(b) have you been focusing
(c) have you focusing
5 He ______ to contact our main supplier since 9 AM, but their lines are still busy.
(a) has been try
(b) is trying
(c) has been trying
6 We ______ the software bugs, but we still have a few left to fix before launch.
(a) have fixed
(b) have been fixing
(c) are been fixing
7 To be honest, the servers ______ properly lately, which is delaying our team’s progress.
(a) haven’t been running
(b) aren’t running
(c) haven’t runned
8 Sarah ______ the new presentation slides, and she is almost halfway through.
(a) have been designing
(b) has designed
(c) has been designing
9 The IT department ______ the new security system for three days to ensure it is safe.
(a) tests
(b) has been testing
(c) has been test
10 I know we are behind schedule, but we ______ overtime every day this week to catch up.
(a) have been working
(b) work
(c) have been work
11 Why is the budget report delayed? What ______ the finance team ______?
(a) is / doing
(b) has / doing
(c) has / been doing
12 We ______ options for the new software, but we haven’t made a final decision yet.
(a) have researched
(b) have been researching
(c) are been researching
13 My team ______ with the external contractors to lower the costs since Monday.
(a) is negotiating
(b) has negotiate
(c) has been negotiating
14 The clients ______ us for updates all week, so we are drafting a status email today.
(a) have been asking
(b) are asking
(c) have asking
15 We ______ that this task would be difficult, but we are making steady progress.
(a) have been knowing
(b) have known
(c) are knowing
16 They ______ the legal documents since this morning, but they have only printed half of them.
(a) have printed
(b) have been print
(c) have been printing
17 The project manager ______ extra staff for this phase because the workload is simply too heavy.
(a) requests
(b) has been request
(c) has been requesting
18 I ______ you emails about this critical issue for a month. Did they go to your spam folder?
(a) have been sent
(b) have been sending
(c) send
19 We ______ our absolute best to meet the Friday deadline, but we might realistically need two more days.
(a) have doing
(b) are doing
(c) have been doing
20 We ______ in this project’s potential since day one, so we will keep pushing until it is perfect.
(a) have been believing
(b) have believed
(c) are believing
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (b)
Explanation:
- Correct (b): “Have been working” emphasizes the continuous effort from last month up to now.
- Incorrect (c): Common Mistake. “Are working” only focuses on the present moment, ignoring the past-to-present duration.
- Incorrect (a): Structural Error. Missing the word “been”.
2 (c)
Explanation:
- Correct (c): Matches the singular subject “team” with an ongoing duration of “two weeks”.
- Incorrect (a): Common Mistake. Present Continuous doesn’t fit the time marker “for two weeks”.
- Incorrect (b): Structural Error. Missing “been”.
3 (a)
Explanation:
- Correct (a): Highlights the exhausting, ongoing process of analyzing data all morning.
- Incorrect (b): Common Mistake. Present Simple states a routine fact, not a continuous recent effort.
- Incorrect (c): Structural Error. The auxiliary must be “been”, not “be”.
4 (b)
Explanation:
- Correct (b): Used with “How long” to ask about the duration of an ongoing action.
- Incorrect (a): Common Mistake. You cannot use Present Continuous to ask about a duration extending from the past.
- Incorrect (c): Structural Error. Missing “been”.
5 (c)
Explanation:
- Correct (c): The effort to contact them started at 9 AM and is still happening.
- Incorrect (b): Common Mistake. “Is trying” means right this second, missing the “since 9 AM” context.
- Incorrect (a): Structural Error. Requires the “-ing” form (trying).
6 (b)
Explanation:
- Correct (b): Shows an ongoing, unfinished process. They are still fixing bugs.
- Incorrect (a): Common Mistake. “Have fixed” (Present Perfect Simple) means the job is 100% complete, but the sentence says there are still a few left.
- Incorrect (c): Structural Error. “Are been” is an impossible grammatical combination.
7 (a)
Explanation:
- Correct (a): Describes an ongoing problem over a recent period (“lately”).
- Incorrect (b): Common Mistake. “Aren’t running” implies only right now.
- Incorrect (c): Structural Error. “Runned” is an incorrect past participle (the correct word is “run”), and it misses the continuous aspect.
8 (c)
Explanation:
- Correct (c): The job is “halfway through”, so it is an unfinished process.
- Incorrect (b): Common Mistake. “Has designed” implies the slides are totally finished.
- Incorrect (a): Structural Error. “Sarah” is singular and requires “has”, not “have”.
9 (b)
Explanation:
- Correct (b): Explains what the IT department has been busy doing for the last three days.
- Incorrect (a): Common Mistake. “Tests” implies a permanent company routine.
- Incorrect (c): Structural Error. Missing the “-ing” form.
10 (a)
Explanation:
- Correct (a): Highlights a recent, continuous, and exhausting action (working overtime) leading up to now.
- Incorrect (b): Common Mistake. Present Simple implies a normal, permanent routine, losing the stress of “catching up” this week.
- Incorrect (c): Structural Error. Missing the “-ing” ending.
11 (c)
Explanation:
- Correct (c): Asks what the team has been busy doing during this period of delay.
- Incorrect (a): Common Mistake. Asks what they are doing at this exact second.
- Incorrect (b): Structural Error. Missing “been”.
12 (b)
Explanation:
- Correct (b): The research is still ongoing because no decision has been made.
- Incorrect (a): Common Mistake. “Have researched” suggests the research phase is completely closed.
- Incorrect (c): Structural Error. “Are been” is invalid.
13 (c)
Explanation:
- Correct (c): Emphasizes the continuous negotiations since Monday.
- Incorrect (a): Common Mistake. “Is negotiating” ignores the timeline.
- Incorrect (b): Structural Error. Missing “been” and the “-ing” verb.
14 (a)
Explanation:
- Correct (a): Shows a repeated, annoying action over the course of “all week.”
- Incorrect (b): Common Mistake. Does not account for the whole week’s duration.
- Incorrect (c): Structural Error. Missing “been”.
15 (b)
Explanation:
- Correct (b): Exception! “Know” is a stative verb (a state of mind). It cannot be used in a continuous tense. We must use Present Perfect Simple.
- Incorrect (a): Common Mistake. Applying the continuous rule to a stative verb.
- Incorrect (c): Structural Error. “Know” cannot be used in Present Continuous either.
16 (c)
Explanation:
- Correct (c): The process of printing is ongoing. We know it is not finished because they have “only printed half.”
- Incorrect (a): Common Mistake. “Have printed” means the whole task is done.
- Incorrect (b): Structural Error. Requires the “-ing” form.
17 (c)
Explanation:
- Correct (c): Shows a repeated, ongoing action (requesting staff) up to now.
- Incorrect (a): Common Mistake. “Requests” states a general, permanent fact.
- Incorrect (b): Structural Error. Missing the “-ing”.
18 (b)
Explanation:
- Correct (b): Emphasizes the repeated action of sending emails over a one-month period.
- Incorrect (c): Common Mistake. Present Simple does not convey the past-to-present timeline.
- Incorrect (a): Structural Error. “Have been sent” is passive voice, meaning you were sent in an email, which makes no sense.
19 (c)
Explanation:
- Correct (c): Highlights the hard, continuous effort leading up to the deadline.
- Incorrect (b): Common Mistake. Focuses only on this exact moment, losing the weight of the past effort.
- Incorrect (a): Structural Error. Missing “been”.
20 (b)
Explanation:
- Correct (b): Exception! “Believe” is a stative verb. Even with “since day one,” it cannot take an “-ing” form. Present Perfect Simple must be used.
- Incorrect (a): Common Mistake. Using continuous forms for verbs of mental state.
- Incorrect (c): Structural Error. Same reason; “believe” doesn’t take Present Continuous.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
Present Perfect Continuous in the Workplace (have/has been + V-ing)
- Showing Hard Work & Unfinished Projects:
In a business context, if you want to show your boss that you are actively working hard on something, but it is not done yet, use the Present Perfect Continuous. - Example: We have been working on the report. (It is not finished, but we are putting in the effort).
- Contrast with Simple: We have finished the report. (The job is 100% done).
- Explaining Delays:
Use this tense to explain what has been taking up your time recently. - Example: I have been fixing server errors all morning.
- Time Markers:
Always use this tense when you want to emphasize how long a task is taking, using words like: - for (two days, three weeks)
- since (Monday, last month, 8 AM)
- all morning / all week
- lately / recently
- The Stative Verb Exception:
Even in business, verbs of the mind or state (e.g., know, believe, understand, belong, own) cannot be continuous. Use Present Perfect Simple instead. - Correct: I have understood the problem since yesterday.
- Incorrect: I have been understanding the problem since yesterday.