Unit 10. Present perfect continuous and simple (I have been doing and I have done).
Unit 10; Part A

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• My hands are very dirty. I've been repairing the car. | • The car is OK again now. I've repaired it. |
• Joe has been eating too much recently. He should eat less. | • Somebody has eaten all my chocolates. The box is empty. |
• It's nice to see you again. What have you been doing since we last met? | • Where's the book I gave you? What have you done with it? |
• Where have you been? Have you been playing tennis? | • Have you ever played tennis? |
Unit 10; Part B
We use the continuous to say how long (for an activity that is still happening): | We use the simple to say how much, how many or how many times (for completed actions): |
• How long have you been reading that book? | • How much of that book have you read? |
• Lisa is still writing letters. She's been writing letters all day. | • Lisa has written ten letters today. |
• They've been playing tennis since 2 o'clock. | • They've played tennis three times this week. |
• I'm learning Spanish, but I haven't been learning it very long. | • I'm learning Spanish, but I haven't learnt very much yet. |
Unit 10; Part C

• I've known about it for a long time, (not I've been knowing)
For a list of these verbs, see Unit 4A. But note that you can use want and mean in the present perfect continuous:
• I've been meaning to phone Jane, but I keep forgetting.
Exercises
![]() | Unit 9 Unit 10 Unit 11 | ![]() |