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English Grammar: Properly Use Present Progressive Tense

Edited by Thor, Leomar Umpad, Eng

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Video: English Grammar: Properly Use Present Progressive Tense

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Hello and welcome to VisiHow. In this series of videos we are exploring the Verb Tenses used in the English language. In the section below this video, you can find links to the other videos in this series. Today we are going to talk about Present Perfect Progressive Tense. Here are some examples of typical forms of this tense.

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English Grammar Present Perfect Progressive Tense.mp4-canvas19 367777.jpg

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1
"I have been listening"
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Here, we can see it's progressive, "listening" - it means continuous; and the present perfect, "I have been". "I have been listening".

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2
"Yes I have been visiting the Judge"
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3
In the form of question, "Have you been working all day?"
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4
This tense is used to talk about actions and states that began in the past and are still continuing at the time of speaking
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So it means started in the past, but it is still continuing now.

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5
We have an example here, "I have been waiting here for 2 hours now
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When are you coming?"
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6
The person has been waiting
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The action started in the past, "waiting here for 2 hours now". He is still waiting; the action is still happening. This tense is also used for actions that have only just finished.

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7
Here is another example, "There you are
!
I have been looking for you."
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8
The actions started in the past, "I have been looking for you", but is now finished
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"I have been looking for" - I am not "still looking for you" but "I have been looking for you" - and recently it is finished.

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9
It is also used for repeated actions, "I have been singing in this choir since I was a boy."
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10
Sometimes, there is a little difference between the meaning of the Present Perfect and the Present Perfect Progressive when they are used for long term actions
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11
Here, we have two examples
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Top one is the example of the Present Perfect Progressive. This one is an example of Present Perfect.
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12
The Top one is Present Perfect Progressive, "I have been living here for 6 years and I still get lost."
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The next example is Present Perfect, "I have lived here for 6 years and I still get lost."
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14
If you said this to somebody then they would understand you and it is not so important to always speak grammatically - correct
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As long as you understood and if you learn the English language and you make mistakes between these two tenses, then it is not the worst thing you can do.
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15
There is a rule to understand when to use which tense
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Usually, the progressive form is used for more temporary actions or states. Because it is progressive, it implies that it is happening now but it might not, necessarily, be something permanent.
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For example, "I have been living here since I started work"
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17
Then the Present Perfect form for more permanent ones
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The example is, "I have always lived here."
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18
This is a permanent action and for that, we would use the Present Perfect
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If the action is a temporary action or state, then would use the progressive - the Present Perfect Progressive.
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19
One thing to remember is that we cannot use this tense with words such as "be" or "like" which are not used in progressive forms
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20
A quick overview of what we have been talking about
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The Present Perfect Progressive Tense is used to talk about actions and states that began in the past and are still continuing at the time of speaking. Here are the examples.
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21
It is also used to talk about actions that have only just finished and for repeated actions
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22
Sometimes there is little difference between the meaning of the Present Perfect and the Present Perfect Progressive
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As what we have talked about, there is a rule for understanding when to use which tense. If it's temporary and in the past, we can use the Present Perfect Progressive. If it's more permanent, we can use the Present Perfect form.
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23
This has been a video on how to use the Present Perfect Progressive Tense in the English language
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If you have any questions, queries, or comments, please leave them in the section below where you can also find the links to the other videos in this series. You have been watching VisiHow, goodbye!
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