viernes, 14 de octubre de 2016

Present perfect continuous vs Past perfect continuous

We use the present perfect continuous 
  • For actions that started in the past and continue to the present:

He has been waiting for you all day (= todavía está esperando).

I've been working on this essay since eight o'clock this morning (= todavía no lo he terminado).
They have been travelling since last July(= todavía no han vuelto).




  • For actions that have just finished and the important thing is the result:

She has been cooking since last night (= y la comida preparada tiene un aspecto delicioso).

It's been raining (= y las calles aún están mojadas).
Someone's been eating my chips (= quedan la mitad).

REMEMBER that we usually translate this tense with the Spanish expression "llevar haciendo" (She has been waiting for you for hours! =¡Lleva esperándote horas!)


If you want to practise some present perfect in songs here you have Mr Postman by The Beatles and Counting Stars by One Republic.



We use the past perfect continuous 
  • for actions in progress in the past before another action happened:
I had been working for hours before I fell asleep (había estado trabajando desde hacía horas, cuando me quedé dormida).
  • To express cause and effect:

I was really tired because I had been working for hours. (Estaba muy cansada porque había estado trabajando desde hacía horas).

REMEMBER that we usually translate this tense with the Spanish expression "llevaba haciendo" :

was really tired because I had been working for hours. (Estaba muy cansada porque llevaba trabajando desde hacía horas)

And if you want to practise here you have some exercises with answers:


* Images from Google Images

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