Contrairement au present perfect qui est bien galère à maîtriser, le present perfect continu (ou present perfect continuous / present perfect ing) est assez simple à utiliser.

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Il s’utilise pour parler d’une action commencée au passé et qui continue au moment présent. On l’utilise souvent pour mettre l’accent sur la durée d’une action (avec ‘for‘ , ‘since‘ et ‘how long…?’ ).

Bob started playing guitar when he was a child.
= He has been playing guitar since he was a child (and he is still playing guitar.)

1/ Formation

Have/has + been + verbe -ing

	Affirmative	Négative	Question
I / you / we / they	I have been playing	I have not been playing	Have I been playing ?_
he / she / it	He has been playing_	He has not been playing_	Has he been playing ?_

_

On peut utiliser aussi la forme contractée de I have = I’ve, He has = He’s…

2/ Utilisation

Lorsqu’on veut insister sur la durée (pas le résultat) d’une action terminée récemment ou qui continue encore:

• I’ve been watching TV for 3 hours.
• She has been living in London since 2010.
• She has been writing for two hours.
• How long have you been learning English ? => I’ve been learning English since a few weeks.
• James has been teaching at the university since June.
• I’ve been looking for you for one hour !
• how long has it been raining? => It has been raining the whole day.
• He’s been waiting for the train since 3pm.
• How long have you been travelling in Australia ? => I’ve been traveling for about a year.
• How long have you been studying japanese ? => I’ve been studying japanese for years.

• She has been working all afternoon, that’s why she is so tired.
• You’re out of breath, where have you been running?
• Why do you look so tired ? => I haven’t been sleeping well.
• Recently, I’ve been feeling really tired.
• What have you been doing ? => I’ve been cleaning the house.
• It has been raining, the ground is wet.
• My hands are dirty, I’ve been fixing the car.
• Matt has not been practicing his English lately.
• Guess what he’s been doing !

3/ Notes

  Les verbes d’état comme believe, love, have, know… n’ont pas de forme progressive (en -ing). Les seules exceptions au present perfect continu sont want et mean (ex: I’ve been meaning to tell Sarah, but I keep forgetting).

• Tom has been having his car for two years. 
• Tom has had his car for two years. 

  For ou Since ?

• I’ve been waiting since 2pm. (date/heure)
• I’ve been waiting for 2 hours. (durée)

• He has been living in China since 1997. (date/heure)
• He has been living in China for 18 years. (durée)

  En utilisant le present perfect continu dans une question, ça implique que vous pouvez voir, sentir, entendre ou sentir le résultat d’une action. Si dites ‘Have you been feeling alright ?‘, ça signifie que la personne semble malade ou en mauvaise santé. Si vous dites ‘Have you been smoking ?‘ ça peut signifier que la personne sent la cigarette.

On peut ainsi insulter quelqu’un en utilisant ce temps incorrectement. De même, si vous dites ‘You’ve been watching television again !‘ ou ‘You’ve been eating chocolate‘ vous accusez la personne a qui vous vous adressez.