| Hi, everybody! Welcome back to Top Words. My name is Alisha and today, we're going to talk about 10 present perfect continuous patterns. So before we start today's episode of Top Words, this is just a review of a grammar point. So using "I've been," I'm going to use I've been to introduce each of these. So for a little bit of grammar review, this means I have been plus a progressive form of the verb meaning I started at some point in the past and it continues to the current point in time when we are speaking. So all of the sentences, all of the patterns I'm going to introduce in this lesson, follow that pattern, then I'll try to use some example sentences with different subjects as well. So let's look. |
| 1. I've been thinking… |
| All right, the first sentence is "I've been thinking…," I've been thinking…. So something that you started thinking about in the past and you have continued. You may be started thinking, I don't know, 2 weeks ago when you thought about a week ago and you thought about a few days ago and now you're thinking about it, you can say I've been thinking… You could say I've been thinking… and continue to a new idea. You can say I've been thinking about… and then you continue with the gerund form of the verb. So like I've been thinking about changing job or I've been thinking about moving to a new apartment. We use the gerund form there, moving. |
| So another example sentence - I've been thinking about starting a new hobby. |
| 2. I've been worrying… |
| The next pattern is "I've been worrying...," I've been worrying... So something that you thought about in the past that caused you to worry and you continued to worry about until the present time. I've been worrying about blah, blah, blah. I've been worrying about my brother, my mother says she's been worrying about me for a long time or my boss has been worrying about this project. So always this has been or have been plus worrying about something. I've been worrying about something. |
| Okay, in another sentence - I've been worrying about you all night. |
| 3. I've been wanting… |
| The next pattern is "I've been wanting…" I've been wanting… So wanting means something you started like you wanted it for the first time in the past like I think I used this in a live video. I said I've been wanting to see that movie like I've been wanting to see the new Blade Runner I think I said. That means I started wanting, for the first time, I thought I wanted to do that or I wanted some object and I didn't get it at that time. Maybe the next day and the day after that and the day after that, I still wanted that thing so I can say, I've been wanting that, I've been wanting that. So for example in my sentence, I've been wanting to see that movie for a long time or he's been wanting to take a day off for ages or they've been wanting to travel the world for 50 years, something like that. |
| In another example sentence, yeah - I've been wanting to see that movie. |
| 4. I've been studying… |
| The next pattern is "I've been studying…," I've been studying. This is a pattern that's probably very useful for many people who are watching. I've been studying means you started studying in the past and you continued to study for a number of years or a number of months or maybe just a few days, I don't know. I've been studying…so this is a pattern that you can use, actually all of these are patterns that you can use with for and since before the period of time or the length of time. So for example, I've been studying English for 3 years or she's been studying accounting her whole life or they've been studying gardening for the last 6 months for example. So talking about a thing you have studied for a period of time, you can refer to that continuously with the progressive form or the continuous form. |
| In another sentence - I've been studying English for a year. |
| 5. I've been hearing about… |
| Ah, the next one, the next pattern is "I've been hearing about…," I've been hearing about… This is useful for gossip or for news. Maybe, you can use it to talk about like a new restaurant or a new bar or just something interesting, some interesting little piece of information you continue to hear about. So you heard it once or maybe you heard about it again a few days later, something that here and there you heard about a few times. You can say, I've been hearing about blah, blah, blah like I've been hearing about this new restaurant that opened recently or I've been hearing about the upcoming policy changes at work or he said he's been hearing about some bad weather that's going to come this summer, I don't know, but something that you've been hearing, something that you heard news about in the past multiple times, you can say I've been hearing about blah, blah, blah. |
| In a sentence - I've been hearing about our new manager. |
| Oh…little gossip, okay. |
| 6. I've been listening to… |
| Next one is also may be useful for your studies, but I think useful for your hobbies. It's "I've been listening to…," I've been listening to… So something that, again, began in the past, continues to the present that happened regularly. So this can mean like music that you like or maybe a news program or a podcast that you enjoy or maybe, I don't know, even this video series for example. So I've been listening to that artist for many years or he's been listening to his boss's advice for the whole day or she's been listening to her mother shout for 3 hours, I don't know. But these are things we have listened to continuously for a period of time. I've been listening to something else continuously. |
| In another sentence - I've been listening to a lot of jazz lately. |
| 7. I've been talking a lot with… |
| The next pattern is "I've been talking a lot with…," I've been talking a lot with… or you can say I've been talking a lot to… is also all right. But, I've been talking a lot with… means over an extended period of time or maybe recently. There's a person or a group of people or an organization perhaps. You have had many conversations with, you've spoken to that person many times. So for example, he's been talking a lot with a counselor recently or they've been talking a lot with upper management about the future of the company for example or I've been talking a lot with my neighbors lately, it's been great. So talking a lot with is another pattern that's useful in this grammar point I think. |
| In a sentence - I've been talking a lot with my parents this month. |
| 8. I've been living… |
| Next one is a commonly confused one I think. The next one is "I've been living…." I've been living here or I've been living in city or country name for or since blah, blah, blah. So I've been living in the USA for 87 years or she's been living in that city for 3 months or they've been living here for almost a year I think. So "been living...," a lot of people say like can I say like I have lived here for 1 year or I've been living here for 1 year? They mean the same thing really especially with the verb to live, like I have lived here for 5 years and I've been living here for 5 years, to me they're very similar in meaning. I think "I've been living here…," I feel they're both perfectly acceptable really. I would use, I would say, "I've lived here for 5 years." or "I've been living here for 5 years.." I suppose the continuous nature is a little bit stronger with the continuous tense but they really communicate the same idea so you can use either to talk about the place where you live really. |
| So one more example - I've been living in Bangkok for 3 years now. |
| 9. I've been working… |
| Next pattern is "I've been working…," I've been working... This is one you can use to talk about your job or perhaps a project that you're doing. So you can use, I've been working at a certain company. You can say, I've been working as plus a job title with your extra information. So I've been working as a teacher for 18 years or I've been working as a doctor for 3 months for example. You can say, I've been working on plus a project name like I've been working on a new promotion or I've been working on a new book for example. So depending on the preposition that you use after this expression, you can change sort of the information you want to present. So to recap, I've been working in ABC company for 5 years, I've been working as a doctor for 5 years or I've been working on a new project for 5 years. So these are a few patterns that you can use with the verb "working here" to talk about a continuous thing in your past and your present as well. |
| So in another sentence - I've been working in this department for 6 months. |
| 10. I've been planning… |
| The last one is "I've been planning…," I've been planning… So this refers to perhaps a future plan, something that you started thinking about in the past, but it has not happened yet maybe. Something that you are planning even now, but you started planning it in the past. So this is something, maybe it has not happened yet, it's going to happen in the future. So I've been planning a birthday party for my friend or he's been planning to find a new job or they've been planning a month-long vacation for example. So something that hasn't happened yet, but it's going to happen in the future, we can use I've been planning, they've been planning, she's been planning. |
| In another sentence - I've been planning a barbeque all summer. |
| So those are 10 present perfect continuous patterns. I hope that those are helpful. Those are a few examples of some ways that we use at least in American English the present perfect continuous or the present perfect progressive tense. So I hope that these are helpful for you as you kind of build some sentences and kind of get a feel for the way that some of these verbs are commonly used. Of course, if there's another pattern that you like to use with the continuous or the progressive tense, please let us know in the comment section. Thank you very much for watching this episode of Top Words and I'll see you again soon. Bye-bye! |
Comments
Hide