Primary English: Present Perfect Continuous Tutor Prep Guide | Have Been Plus -ing, Three Uses and Contrast

2026-11-14

Tutor lesson-prep guides · Primary English

A student cannot separate I have studied from I have been studying, because both sound like finished news in the first language. This chapter does three things only: recognise the have been plus -ing shape, separate ongoing from just-stopped from indirect result, and split the two perfect tenses with a single still test.

Objectives — Students can: (1) write the full subject plus have or has plus been plus -ing shape and spell five common -ing forms correctly; (2) name the three uses (still going on, just stopped, indirect result) and write one sentence of each; (3) use the still test and the end-point test to choose between the present perfect and the present perfect continuous.

01 Prerequisites (3-minute check)

If any of these fails, fix it before the lesson starts.

Skill	Quick check	Pass mark
Present continuous	He ___ (run) now.	is running, happening right now
Present perfect	I ___ (finish) my homework.	have finished, already done
-ing spelling	How do you spell run plus ing?	running, short vowel plus one consonant doubles

02 Lesson flow (45 minutes)

Time	Stage	Tutor does	Student does
0-5 min	Two sentences side by side	I have studied next to I have been studying	Say how the two differ
5-15 min	The shape	have or has plus been plus -ing	Turn ten verbs into -ing sentences
15-27 min	Three uses	One example each of ongoing, just stopped, indirect result	Write one sentence of each
27-36 min	The still test	Both perfect tenses on one table	Choose in six pairs and give a reason
36-43 min	State verbs	know and like never take -ing	Rewrite three wrong sentences
43-45 min	Exit check	Three items collected and marked	Work independently

03 Teaching script (read it out)

Scene 1: The shape: have been plus -ing, three parts and none may be dropped

The most common error is a missing been, as in I have studying English. That is not carelessness; the student has treated finished and ongoing as two unrelated ideas. The shape is two layers stacked: have or has carries the meaning from past to now, and been plus -ing carries the meaning that the action continued, so the whole sentence reads as one action running from the past up to the present. The pairing rule is the same as the present perfect: I, you, we and they take have; he, she, it and a singular name take has, followed by been, then the -ing verb. Spelling needs only three rules: add ing to most verbs; drop the final e first, so write becomes writing; double the last consonant after a short vowel, so run becomes running and sit becomes sitting. One worked example: They have been living here since 2022, which is 4 years by 2026, and the same fact can be said as for 4 years. Students do: turn ten verbs into -ing forms and place each one inside a have been sentence, with five of them needing doubling or the dropped e. Students say: which of the three parts is dropped most often in their own writing, and why run doubles its n.

Scene 2: Three uses: still going on, just stopped, indirect result

The first use is ongoing: the action began in the past and is still true now, as in I have been reading this book for two hours. This use pairs naturally with for, since, all morning and lately. The second use is just stopped: the action has only just finished but its result is still visible, as in She has been running, which is why she is out of breath. The verbs here are usually visible actions such as run, clean, cook and practise. The third use is indirect result: a continuing action explains something you can see now, as in The ground is wet. It has been raining. The present evidence comes first and the action explains it, and this matching question appears in almost every test. All three uses share one timeline: the action starts in the past and the camera is pulled to the present, and the only difference is whether the action is still happening. Read the four model sentences once together: I have been waiting for forty minutes. He has been practising the piano all morning. They have been living here since 2022. Your eyes are red. Have you been crying? Then ask which one is just stopped and which one is an indirect result. A wrong answer is fine; the habit that matters is asking first whether the action is still going on.

Students do: write one sentence of each use and label it ongoing, just stopped or result. Students say: why It has been raining can be followed by The ground is wet, and what for and since each take.

Scene 3: The contrast with the present perfect: one still test

I have read the book means the reading is finished, with the book closed; I have been reading the book means the reading has been going on, with the focus on the process and no promise of an ending. Both are grammatical, and the choice depends on whether the reader should see a result or a process. The first test is still: read the sentence and add the idea of still. If still going on makes sense, use the continuous; I have read the book plus still contradicts itself, because a finished book has nothing still running. The second test is the end point: a completed quantity takes the present perfect, as in I have read three books, while a length of time or a process takes the continuous, as in I have been reading for an hour. The third boundary is state verbs: know, like, belong and own are not actions and never take -ing, so we say I have known him for years and never I have been knowing him. One more high-frequency slip: I have been finished my homework is wrong, because finished is not an action in progress, so adding been leaves the sentence with nothing running.

Students do: choose between the two tenses in six pairs and write whether the still test or the end-point test decided it. Students say: how each test works, and why know cannot take -ing.

04 Question types and worked steps

Type	Example	Steps	Answer
Form question	Give the -ing form and complete the have been sentence	Apply the three spelling rules, then choose have or has	Dropping been or writing a past participle
Tense choice	I ___ (read) this book for two hours.	Ask whether the action is still going on now	Writing have read whenever for appears
Evidence matching	The ground is wet. Which sentence explains it?	The result is visible now, so the cause is a continuing action	Writing It rained and ignoring that it is still wet
Error correction	I have been knowing him for years.	Find the state verb and switch to the present perfect	Only changing knowing to knowed

Sanity check (teach this): Sanity check: the chapter covers only the shape, the three uses and the contrast with the present perfect, and deliberately omits the past perfect, because one new tense per lesson is all a P5 student can absorb. Model sentences are fixed at four so the examples stay memorable, and only four high-frequency state verbs are listed, with the rest handled individually in practice. The still test and the end-point test are both applied to the same verb, so the difference is seen as a difference of viewpoint rather than of wording.

05 Independent practice (3 questions)

Question	Answer	What to watch
-ing spelling	Rewrite ten verbs and use them in sentences	Check all five doubling and dropped-e forms
Three uses	One sentence of each use with a label	Check the reason given for each choice
Two tests	Choose in six pairs	Check that still or the end point is cited

06 Common mistakes and what to say

Mistake	Student writes	Say this
Missing been	I have studying English.	been comes after have, and all three parts are needed: have been studying.
State verb with -ing	I have been knowing him.	know is a state, not an action, so it never runs: you want I have known him for three years.
Mixed with the present perfect	I have been finishing my homework, meaning it is done.	If it is done, use have finished; been finishing describes the process and sounds unfinished.
Missed doubling	runing, siting	A short vowel plus one consonant doubles: running, sitting. Write it and read it aloud once.

07 Homework (paper, section and question numbers)

Primary English chapter index — All chapters for the subject
Prep guides master index — Similar chapters in other subjects
Redo this chapter — Practice items 1, 2 and 4: spelling, three uses, error correction

08 Exit check (last 5 minutes)

Question	Answer	Decision
The shape	have or has plus been plus -ing	A missing been means replay act one
Three uses	ongoing, just stopped, indirect result	Only one use named means back to act two
The contrast	the still test and the end-point test	No test named means redo the six pairs

09 Tutor FAQ

When is the past perfect taught?

In Secondary One. P5 should stabilise have been plus -ing first, since two perfect tenses in one lesson already stretch the lesson.

Which tense follows for?

Either one: I lived there for three years means I no longer live there, while I have been living there for three years means I still do. The difference is whether it is still true.

What if a student treats -ing as the present continuous?

Ask them to add already or since and read the sentence again. If it still makes sense it is the perfect continuous; if not, it is only the present continuous.

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A TutorZone lesson-prep guide. Written by the TutorZone team; questions and lesson flow are original and are not taken from any school or publisher material.