Present Perfect Continuous · Exercises
C2Proficient practice
Formal reports and tricky simple vs. continuous choices.
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
- C2 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 C2
- Negatives: haven’t / hasn’t been
- Questions: Have you been…?
- 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 sister _____ (make) phone calls all afternoon.
Show answer
My sister has been making phone calls all afternoon.
For an activity over a period (all morning, for an hour), use the continuous: have / has been + -ing.
Make the sentence negative.
My grandmother has been running in the park.
Show answer
My grandmother hasn't been running in the park.
Negative: hasn't been + -ing. My grandmother hasn't been running in the park.
Is this sentence correct?
Our neighbour has been owning this flat for ages.
Show answer
Our neighbour has owned this flat for ages.
“been owning” should be “owned”. “own” is a state verb, so it isn’t used in the continuous. With for / since use the present perfect simple.
Is this sentence correct?
Lily has owned this flat since January.
Show answer
Lily has owned this flat since January.
Yes, it’s correct. “own” is a state verb, so it isn’t used in the continuous. With for / since use the present perfect simple.
Is this sentence correct?
My flatmate has belonged to a choir for years.
Show answer
My flatmate has belonged to a choir for years.
Yes, it’s correct. “belong” is a state verb, so it isn’t used in the continuous. With for / since use the present perfect simple.
Choose the best form.
Theo _____ (revise) for the exam since Monday.
Show answer
Theo has been revising for the exam since Monday.
For an activity over a period (all morning, for an hour), use the continuous: have / has been + -ing.