Activities: “The perfect continuous tenses in English: What are they and how to use them?”

For each of the verbs below, provide the past perfect continuous, the present perfect continuous, and the future perfect continuous form. For each set, the subject pronoun is given in parentheses, as in the example. For this problem, do not use contractions (e.g. “they’ll”)

ex: work (he)

• past perfect continuous: he had been working

• present perfect continuous: he has been working

• future perfect continuous: he will have been working

Use your knowledge about perfect continuous vs. perfect tenses to answer the questions below:

• In which sentence was the food ready to eat when we sat down?

  When we sat down at the table, my mom had cooked dinner.

  When we sat down at the table, my mom had been cooking dinner.

• Which sentence implies that my sister does not yet know where she will stay or exactly when she will go?

  My sister has planned a trip to New York.

  My sister has been planning a trip to New York.

• My brother Marcus moves all the time. Which phrasing is better?

  Recently, my brother lives in Amsterdam, but he is moving next month.

  Recently, my brother has been living in Amsterdam, but he is moving next month.

• My sister Andy is almost always traveling and she will keep traveling in the future. Which phrasing is better?

  My sister Andy has traveled a lot, but she is at home right now.

  My sister Andy has been traveling a lot, but she is at home right now.

• Today, May jumped once. Which phrasing is better?

  May has jumped today.

  May has been jumping today.

• Patrick forgets his keys almost every time he leaves the house. Which phrasing is better?

  Patrick has forgotten his keys.

  Patrick has been forgetting his keys.

• Patrick forgot his keys today and he called me for help. Which phrasing is better?

  Patrick has forgotten his keys.

  Patrick has been forgetting his keys.