Form

It is formed with have been + the –ing form.

I have (I’ve)

You have (You’ve)

He has (He’s)

She has (She’s)

It has (It’s) been waiting, playing, going, studying....etc.

We have (We’ve)

You have (You’ve)

They have (They’ve)

Like other continuous formed, the present perfect continuous draws attention to the duration of an action and shows that the duration of the action is limited. This time differ from other continuous forms because it shows exactly that one or more actions began at some point earlier in time (before now)

This tense is used:

1. for an action which began in the past and is either still continuing into the present or has only just finished:

Mary has been reading for two hours.

He has been learning all morning.

Somebody has been reading my letters. I put them in this drawer and now they are not here.

2. sometimes it is used for repeated events. In this case the accent is on duration of an action not on its result. We can see the difference in these examples:

He had been smoking since breakfast. (accent on duration)

He has smoked 20 cigarettes since breakfast. (accent on result)

Mary has been writing letters since 10 o’clock. (accent on duration)

Mary has written ten letters since 10 o’clock. (accent on result)

In the following examples the time of the action is not mentioned at all. The only thing that is important is whether the action is completed or still in process. This is how we can make the difference:

He has polished his car. (the action completed)

He has been polishing his car. (He started that for example in the morning and now is afternoon, and he is still polishing his car.)

He has taken some photos. (action is done)

He has been taking some photos. (He is still doing that.)

The present perfect continuous normally does NOT occur with the following adverbs (like present perfect tense does): just, already, ever, never, finally etc.

Also, it is important to know that this tense has no passive form. Its passive equivalent is the present perfect tense: