Tag: Continuous

The Perfect Continuous Tenses

The Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Form: have/has + been + present participle. Has is used with third person singular number subject i.e. he, she or it.

We use this tense for an action that began in the past, continues in the present and may continue in the future.

Study these examples:

I have been working in this college for the past ten years. (I am still working here).

I have been trying to solve this problem for an hour. (I am still trying to solve it)

We sometimes use the present perfect continuous even when the action is over. Then we want to emphasize that the activity continued without intermission. Or we are giving a reason or excuse for something.

Study these examples:

He has been reading since morning and now he has a headache.

I have been working in the garden the whole morning. Now I am tired and dirty and need a bath.

Adverbs commonly used in this tense form are: since, for, ever, never, always, often etc. remember since is used with a point of time and for with a period of time.

Verbs like lie (down), rest, sleep, sit are used more often in the present perfect continuous than in the present perfect, e.g.

The football has been lying under the bed the whole day (rather than has lain).

The cat has been sitting under my chair all this time (rather than has sat).

The Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Form: had + been + present participle.

The past perfect continuous tense is used for an action which began at some time in the past and was in progress at some time later in the past. This tense indicates that the earlier of the two actions in the past was continuous.

Study these examples:

She had been writing a novel for the past one year when I visited her last year.

Mr. Fernandez had been teaching in this college for 15 years when I joined in 1995.

The past perfect continuous in indirect speech:

The old woman said, “I have been waiting for my son for seven years.”

The old woman said that she had been waiting for her son for seven years.

The Future Perfect Continuous Tense

Form:  shall/will + have + been + present participle.

It denotes an activity partly completed but still in progress over a period of time in future, e.g.

I shall have been working here for 30 years next month.

She will have been talking on the phone for two hours by the time her father arrives.

The Continuous or Progressive Tenses

The Continuous or Progressive Tenses

The Continuous or Progressive Tenses describe an action that goes on or continues or progresses for sometime.

To make them we use the helping verb be and the present participle (am, is, are for the present continuous and was, were for the past continuous).

 

  • The Present Continuous Tense

The simple present tense is the everyday or habitual present. The present continuous is the real or immediate present which tells us what is happening at the time of speaking e.g.

What are you doing, John?

I am doing my homework, father.

Study the following examples to see the difference in the use of the simple present and the present continuous:

Present Continuous Simple Present
What are you learning now?We are learning English grammar. Which days in the week do you learn grammar?We learn it on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Where are you going now?I am going to school. How do you go to school?I go to school by bus.
What is your father doing?My father is watching television. What do you watch on television?I watch cartoon films.
What is your mother doing?She is writing a letter to grandmother. Do you write letters to your friends and relatives?Yes, I do.

 

Notice that the present continuous of go and come is often used for the future, e.g.

We are going for a picnic tomorrow.

My friends are coming to our house next week.

The present continuous of go, followed by an infinitive, is often used for the future, e.g.

I am going to finish my work tomorrow.

Are they going to repair the roads before the rains?

  • The Past Continuous Tense

We make this with was/were and the present participle.

The past continuous tense shows an action that went on for some time in the past, e.g.

Mother and father were sitting in garden while I was watering the plants. My younger brother was playing under the tree, mother was reading a magazine and father was having his tea.

It is also used to express an action that was going on when another happened. The second action is in the simple past tense, e.g.

She lost her watch while she was playing.

I was going to the market when I saw the accident.

  • The Future Continuous Tense

This tense is formed by the simple future of the verb be and the past participle of the principal verb. It shows that a person will keep on doing something in the future, e.g.

We will be studying mathematics in the next lesson.

We will be playing football in the field at 5 o’clock this evening.

On Sunday, my parents will be going for a movie and I will be looking after my little sister.