Present perfect continuous worksheets
16 worksheets and 1 shadowing script · Tenses
Start here — 3 free samples
Free to try: open, print and play them — no account needed.
Present perfect continuous worksheets
16 printable worksheets with answer keys.
Present perfect continuous shadowing
Listen, repeat, record and compare: short scripts for pronunciation and fluency.
About Present perfect continuous
The present perfect continuous (have/has been + -ing) focuses on an activity that started in the past and is still going on, or has only just stopped and has a visible result: I've been waiting for an hour. Your eyes are red – have you been crying? It emphasizes duration and the activity itself rather than a completed result.
It is normally taught at B1, once the present perfect simple is secure. The key difficulty is choosing between the two forms: I've been reading your report (the activity, perhaps unfinished) versus I've read your report (finished). Learners also use it with state verbs (*I've been knowing her for years) and leave out been (*She has working here since May).
The page collects printable present perfect continuous worksheets with answer keys, which you can print as PDFs or assign online via a class link.
Teaching tips: Present perfect continuous
- Use 'evidence' pictures – paint on someone's clothes, a breathless runner, wet hair – and ask learners what the person has been doing.
- Contrast How long…? with the continuous and How many…? with the simple: I've been writing emails all morning. I've written twenty emails.
- Revise state verbs so learners keep them in the simple form: I've known her for years.
- Watch for the missing been; highlight all three parts of the verb: has + been + working.
Questions teachers ask
What's the difference between the present perfect simple and continuous?
The simple focuses on a result or quantity completed (I've painted two rooms); the continuous focuses on the activity and its duration (I've been painting all day). With live and work, both are often possible with little difference: I've lived / I've been living here for ten years.
Can the present perfect continuous describe an action that has finished?
Yes, if the activity has only just stopped and its effects are still noticeable: Sorry I'm late – I've been sitting in traffic.
When should learners meet this tense?
Usually at B1, after the present perfect simple with for and since. Presenting both forms together at A2 tends to cause confusion.