Present Perfect Continuous · Exercises
C1Advanced practice
Subtle contrasts, complaints and news-style reports.
Play
- Practice10 exercises at your own pace
- Time Attack60 seconds, as many as you can
- Survival3 lives, harder as you go
- Tense SortDrag sentences into their tense — 60 seconds
- Timelines10 sentences to match to their timelines
- C1 Boss12 hits before you lose 3 lives
- Irregular MatchPair verbs with their past forms — 60 seconds
Want to mix tenses, go endless or pick exercise types? Set up your own session.
What you’ll practise at C1
- Negatives: haven’t / hasn’t been
- Questions: Have you been…?
- for / since and How long…?
- Visible results: You’re out of breath — have you been running?
- Repeated actions and recent habits (lately)
- Simple or continuous? (have done / have been doing)
- State verbs: I’ve known him for years
- Who’s been using my laptop?
- News and report style
- Timelines: what the tense means
Need a refresher? Learn the present perfect continuous: rules, tables and audio examples.
Sample exercises
A taste of what’s inside. In practice mode every exercise is freshly generated.
Write the present perfect simple or continuous.
My classmates _____ (believe) in fairies since January.
Show answer
My classmates have believed in fairies since January.
“believe” is a state verb, so it isn’t used in the continuous. With for / since use the present perfect simple.
Say what has been happening, with the words in brackets.
They’re all sweaty. (they / dance)
Show answer
They have been dancing.
Use the present perfect continuous for an activity that has just stopped (or is still going on) and explains what we can see now.
Write the verb in the present perfect continuous.
Who _____ (park) in my space?
Show answer
Who has been parking in my space?
To complain about something that someone has been doing (and you can see the result), use has been + -ing: Who’s been eating my biscuits?
Write the present perfect simple or continuous.
Ben and Max _____ (be) married for a long time.
Show answer
Ben and Max have been married for a long time.
“be” is a state verb, so it isn’t used in the continuous. With for / since use the present perfect simple.
Choose the best form.
The government _____ (face) growing criticism since the spring.
Show answer
The government has been facing growing criticism since the spring.
In reports and the news, have / has been + -ing describes a process that started in the past and is still going on.
Write the present perfect simple or continuous.
Sam _____ (have) long hair since last summer.
Show answer
Sam has had long hair since last summer.
“have” is a state verb, so it isn’t used in the continuous. With for / since use the present perfect simple.