Page 32 - English Grammar in Use

Unit Present perfect continuous and simple
10 (I have been doing and I have done)

A Compare these two situations:

I’ve been painting
my bedroom.
I’ve painted my bedroom.

There is paint on Kate’s clothes. The bedroom was green. Now it is yellow.
She has been painting her bedroom. She has painted her bedroom.
has been painting is the present perfect has painted is the present perfect simple.
continuous.
Here, the important thing is that something has
We are thinking of the activity. It does not matter been finished. ‘She has painted’ is a completed
whether it has been finished or not. In this action. We are thinking about the result of
example, the activity (painting the bedroom) has the activity (the painted bedroom), not the
not been finished. activity itself.

B Compare these examples:
My hands are very dirty. I’ve been My bike is OK again now. I’ve repaired
repairing my bike. it. (= I’ve finished repairing it)
Joe has been eating too much recently. Somebody has eaten all the chocolates.
He should eat less. The box is empty.
It’s nice to see you again. What have you Where’s the book I gave you? What have
been doing since we last met? you done with it?
Where have you been? Have you been Have you ever played tennis?
playing tennis?

C We use the continuous to say how long (for We use the simple to say how much, how many
something that is still happening): or how many times (for completed actions):
How long have you been reading that How many pages of that book have
book? you read?
Amy is writing emails. She’s been writing Amy has sent lots of emails this morning.
emails all morning.
They’ve been playing tennis since 2 o’clock. They’ve played tennis three times this
week.
I’m learning Arabic, but I haven’t been I’m learning Arabic, but I haven’t learnt
learning it very long. very much yet.

D Some verbs (for example, know) are not normally used in continuous forms (be + -ing):
I’ve known about the problem for a long time. (not I’ve been knowing)
How long have you had that camera? (not have you been having)
For a list of these verbs, see Unit 4A. For have, see Unit 17.
But note that you can use want and mean in the present perfect continuous (have/has been + -ing):
I’ve been meaning to phone Anna, but I keep forgetting.

Present perfect simple ➜ Units 7–8 Present perfect continuous ➜ Unit 9
20 Present perfect + for/since ➜ Units 11–12