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Perfect Progressive Tense

The perfect progressive tense describes actions that repeated over a period of time in the past, are continuing in the present, and/or will continue in the future.

The present perfect progressive tense tells you about a continuous action that was initiated in the past and finished at some point in the past; however, the action has some relation to the present time. Use have/has + been + ing.

  • It has been raining, and the street is still wet.
  • I have been running, and I am still tired.
  • She has been practicing the piano, and she is much better now.
The past perfect progressive tense illustrates a continuous action in the past that was completed before another past action. Use had + been + ing.

  • It had been raining, and the street was still wet.
  • I had been running, and I was still tired.
  • She had been practicing the piano, and she had gotten much better.
The future perfect progressive tense indicates a continuous action that will be completed in the future. Use will + have + been + ing.

  • By tonight, it will have been raining several hours, and the street will be very wet.
  • By next summer, I will have been running for almost a year, and I will be fit and healthy.
  • By the time of the concert, she will have been practicing the piano for several months, and she will be much better.

[Quiz 12.1]

Choose the incorrect sentence from the following.

1)I have been sleeping all day today.
2)They will have been walking for almost an hour by the time they arrive at their destination.
3)She have been eating a lot recently.

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