hi I'm kasha welcome to Oxford online
English in this lesson you can learn
about the present perfect simple and
present perfect continuous verb forms
what's the difference between I have
done and I have been doing when should
you use the present perfect continuous
you'll see the answers to these
questions in this lesson before we start
do you find it difficult to listen to
English for long periods no problem
use the English subtitles to help
yourself understand turn them on now
just click on the CC button in the
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but now let's start with the basic point
what is the present perfect continuous
verb tense
Hey sorry I'm late where have you been
I've been trying to call you all morning
have you been waiting long no not so
long I just didn't know where you were
I've been preparing for this lesson for
the last few hours I just lost track of
time so let's start look at the three
sentences you heard in the dialogue do
you know how to complete them look at
the full sentences these all use the
same verb form the present perfect
continuous some questions one how do you
make positive and negative sentences and
questions two
what does the verb form mean we'll spend
the rest of this lesson answering
question two but let's look at the first
question now form the present perfect
continuous with three things firstly
have or has then add bean then add an
ING verb let's try it now look at three
sentences can you make them using the
present perfect continuous pause the
video and say the sentences out loud
using the present perfect continuous
verb form could you do it
let's check the answers did you get them
right next to make a negative just add
not after have or has for example I have
been working all morning I have not been
working all morning
she has been waiting there for hours she
has not been waiting there for hours
actually we're emphasizing the word not
so you can hear it but in natural speech
you should use contractions like haven't
or hasn't
I haven't been working all morning she
hasn't been waiting there for hours what
about the last sentence can you make it
negative make the negative form and say
it out loud
use a contraction the answer is it
hasn't been raining did you get it
finally make questions in the present
perfect continuous my moving has or have
before the subject for example has she
been waiting there for hours has it been
raining these rules will help you to
form the present perfect continuous verb
tense but how do you use it
what does it mean let's start to answer
that question
how long have you been doing this this
you mean making this video I mean
teaching how long have you been teaching
ooh for over 10 years now should we take
a break we've been working for hours
sure want to get a doughnut or something
from the bakery mm-hmm
better not I've been trying to cut down
on how much sugar I eat well how about a
coffee instead good idea look at four
examples of the present perfect
continuous which you heard can you see
what connects them in all four sentences
you're talking about something which
started in the past and continues in the
present this can be a continuous action
something which started before now and
continued without a break until now for
example if you say we've been working
for hours you mean that we started
working several hours ago and we've
continued working from then until now
you can also use the present perfect
continuous for repeated or regular
actions for example if I say I've been
teaching for over 10 years now I mean
that this is something I've been doing
regularly starting over 10 years ago and
continuing now so to use the present
perfect continuous in this way three
things need to be true one the action
must have started in the past two the
action must be something continuous or
repeated regularly three you must be
still doing this thing now in the
present let's practice look at three
questions pause the video and try to
answer the questions using the present
perfect continuous say your answers out
loud if it's difficult repeat
your answers until you can pronounce
them fluently try not could you do it
was it easy or difficult of course there
are many possibilities but let's look at
three sample answers for question one
you could say I've been cleaning my room
and doing a little bit of English study
for question two you could say I've been
watching the show called dark on Netflix
for question three you could say so far
this week I've mostly been hanging out
at home and reading I have a good book I
want to finish this is the most basic
way to use the present perfect
continuous but there's another important
use of this verb tense
let's look now
what happened to your hands they're
filthy I've been working on my bike well
go and wash them I thought when you're
getting everything dirty why are you in
such a bad mood
I've been working on my website not
going well no look at the first two
lines from the dialog a question is she
working on her bike no the answer is no
so why use the present perfect
continuous here the action is finished
it's in the past
shouldn't we use a past tense verb we
use the present perfect continuous here
for a continuous action which finished
recently and which has visible results
now or more simply use the present
perfect continuous to explain why things
look the way they look now for example
why are you so sweaty I've been joking
why is the kitchen in such a mess I've
been cooking all afternoon you look
tired
yeah I've been working too much this
week okay now you know the two basic
ways to use the present perfect
continuous next another important
question how do you know when to use the
present perfect continuous and when to
use the simple form
did you hear Jen's getting married
really that's good news I guess I guess
well how long have they been together I
saw her three months ago and she didn't
say anything about being in a
relationship I think they've been going
out for a couple of months that's not
long maybe not but I think they've known
each other for longer anyway she seems
really happy
she's so excited about the wedding she's
been talking about it non-stop for weeks
I bet let's look at two sentences you
heard these are describing similar
situations so why use different verb
forms the verb in the first sentence go
out is an action but in the second
sentence the verb no describes the state
not an action what does this mean
knowing someone is a state it's not
something you do if you know someone
then you know them you know them today
and you'll know them tomorrow too state
verbs include be like understand or seem
many verbs which relate to feelings or
mental states are state verbs state
verbs aren't generally used in
continuous forms if you're using a state
verb like B you should use the present
perfect simple tense not the continuous
let's test this quickly look at two more
sentences from the dialogue do these
verbs refer to states or actions should
they be present perfect simple or
continuous try to remember or work out
the answers pause the video if you need
more time to think
let's check B is a state verb so it
should be present perfect simple
talk is an action it's something you do
so it should be present perfect
continuous here there's one exception to
this rule want is a state verb but you
can use it in the present perfect
continuous
for example I've been wanting to see
this film for ages actually I've been
wanting to talk to you about this for
some time you could also use the simple
form here I've wanted it doesn't matter
which you use in this section you've
learned a basic way to tell the
difference between the simple and
continuous present perfect forms in our
final section you'll see one more
important difference between these two
verb tenses
haven't you started cooking yet everyone
will be here in less than an hour
I have started I mean I've chopped all
the vegetables but the stew will take at
least two hours to cook there's no way
it will be ready in time well you could
have helped me I've been doing
everything myself and it's a lot of work
yeah you know what else is a lot of work
cleaning the whole house
I've been vacuuming mopping dusting I've
leaned both bathrooms I haven't just
been sitting around all day okay well
have you finished can you give me a hand
now sure I'm free now
what needs doing actually you know what
we've run out of milk could you pop out
and get some yeah okay look at a
sentence you heard let's add another one
these are both possible but they have
slightly different meanings can you
explain the difference the first
sentence with the present perfect simple
focuses on the result of the action
using this simple form shows that you
have finished this and there is a result
in this case the vegetables are chopped
and ready to go in the stew the second
sentence with the present perfect
continuous focuses on the process if you
say I've been chopping the vegetables
there's no clear result using the
continuous form simply shows that you've
spent time on this thing and you're
probably not finished let's practice
this point look at four sentences here's
a task for you
in these sentences can you use the
present perfect simple or the continuous
or both if both are possible is the
meaning the same or different pause the
video and think about your ideas take
your time
start again when you're ready
okay let's look together in number one
only the simple form is possible this is
because there's a number you've called
five times which shows a clear result in
sentence 2 both are possible but the
continuous is more likely there's no
difference in meaning this is because
you still haven't arrived so there's no
result probably you want to focus on the
process meaning how much time you've
spent driving in sentence 3 both are
possible with little difference in
meaning this is because you can focus on
the result you finish watching many
documentaries or you can focus on the
process you've spent time watching
nature documentaries confusing don't
worry about it here the basic meaning is
the same whichever form you use in
sentence for both are possible but here
the meaning would be different if you
say I've made a soup for lunch then
you've finished cooking and the soup is
ready to eat if you use the continuous
form then you probably haven't finished
I've spent some time cooking but there's
probably no result meaning it's no soup
maybe you're thinking why probably it's
a good question
it's because the sentence just doesn't
contain that information if you say I've
been making soup for lunch there's no
information about whether you've
finished or not but if you had finished
you'd almost certainly use the present
perfect simple I've made a soup so using
the continuous strongly suggest that you
haven't finished that's all thanks for
watching see you next time
you