Present perfect continuous

Form

Use

1. An action that started in the past and continues up until now or has stopped in the recent past, e.g. You have been working at this company for five years. Your hands are dirty; have you been working in the garden?

General

The boy has been fishing since morning.

She has been teaching at school for thirty years.

They have been staying with us for a fortnight.

That noise has been going on since I came here.

Your eyes are red; you have evidently been crying.

Look at your hands! What have you been doing?

I have been reading this book in your absence.

I have been keeping the bread in the top cupboard – is that OK?

Sorry I am late. Have you been waiting long?

It has been snowing since Christmas.

I have been working at the Ministry for three years.

I’ve been learning irregular verbs all afternoon.

I’ve been playing a lot of tennis recently.

This man has been standing on the corner all day.

I haven’t been working very well recently.

Scientists believe that the Universe has been expanding steadily since the beginning of time.

For years, special guide dogs have been helping blind people.

I have been hunting for some birds, and I have lost my way.

I won't tell the student the answer until he has been working on the

math problem for more than an hour.

20. Recently fashion houses have been promoting mink and fox fur.

Law

The Taiwan government is cracking down on traffickers who have been using the country as their base.

Over the last few months the police have been carrying out

       successful operations against terrorist suspects.

Legal restrictions of the use of force in international relations have been

       increasing since the Second World War.

Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union the crime groups in that country have been trafficking in precious metals, raw materials and even radioactive substances.

Although Russian crime activity in the United States has been expanding for the past 20 years, its most significant growth has occurred during the past five years.

While telecommunications fraud has been going on for some time, it has grown rapidly as the industry has expanded.

It is no secret that gangs and their antisocial activities have been increasing at high rates in communities and on school campuses nationwide.

White gangs have been forming in California for decades.

The Thames Division has been policing the River Thames since 1798.

Since 9/11, police have been facing a new challenge of global terrorists.

The interrogation has been going on since morning and we all need a

break badly.

We have been studying Criminal Law for three months already.

13. Since 1982, the number of police departments, which appoint only local candidates, has been rising.

14. In a national survey the Police Foundation found that some departments have been actively recruiting women as police officers.

15. The detectives have been lying in ambush for 6 hours and everybody is very nervous now.