Grammar Tip! present perfect continuous

In the present perfect continuous, we talk about an action that has continued over a period until NOW. So, for instance, we can say:

I have been sitting here for ages waiting for the bank manager to phone. (This could mean that I'm going to stop sitting here now, but not necessarily.)

We could say...

I've been sitting here for ages waiting for the bank manager to phone.  I hope I won't have to wait much longer.

Your friend comes into your apartment and their eyes are red and sore. You say... You've been playing too many computer games!

Sometimes we use this verb form with recently and lately:

I've been having problems with my neighbor lately.

Lately he's been shouting insults at me whenever I've seen him.

I've been having really bad headaches recently means I have had a number of headaches.

I've had a really bad headache means that I have had one headache.

Since and for are often used with the present perfect continuous.

 I've been working on my business plan for months now.

I have been running my business for about three years now...

The present perfect continuous looks at the activity in progress, while the present perfect simple looks at the result.

I've been finishing my business plan. (In this sentence it is not clear whether the action is finished.)

I've finished my business plan. What do you think? (In this sentence, it is clear that the action has finished.)

It may depend on how the speaker sees the situation: i.e. whether or not they want to focus on the action going on, or the result.

State verbs (e.g. verbs like know, love, like, own and want) do not usually take the continuous:

  I have loved working with clothes all my life. NOT I have been loving working with clothes all my life.

In a few cases, the meaning is the same whether you use the Simple or the Continuous:

 I've studied here for two years means exactly the same as...I've been studying here for two years.

We often choose to use the present perfect continuous in this situation.