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Chapter 2: Time Travel

V. Action and Time in the Perfect Continuous Tenses: Past, Present and Future

1.0 Past

We may also use the Perfect Continuous Tense in the Past. However, unlike the Past Perfect Tense, which basically functions in the same way in the Present and Future Perfect, the Past Perfect Continuous Tense is different from the Present and Future Perfect Continuous Tenses.

When we use the Past Perfect Continuous tense, it usually implies that the action stopped in the past (just like the Simple Past Tense).  In this case, the use of the Past Perfect Continuous Tense usually implies that the action was expected to continue past an end point, but it did not, opposite to expectations.

Example

I had been studying for 3 hours when my friend called. He wanted to play basketball, and I decided to join him.

2.0 Present

The action started in the past and continues until the present, even if the present is not mentioned. In this case, it is implied; however, in the Perfect Continuous Tense, the action is expected to continue past ‘now’.

Examples

I have been studying since 7:00 a.m..  (until now—expected to continue)
I have not been studying for 3 hours.  (until now—expected to continue for a while)

3.0 Future

The action started at a point prior to the end point and continues until the stated end point. The action may have started in the past or the present. It may start in the future. However, we are only talking about the time that started before the future end point, which is given. In the Future Perfect Progressive Tense, however, the action is expected to continue after the later time that is noted.

Example

By 6:00 p.m., I will have been studying for three hours.

4.0 Perfect Continuous Tense

We may also use the future Perfect Tense to talk about the total time from the starting point, which could be the present or the past, until a time that is stated.

Example

By next May, I will have studied for 4 years.
  • Here, the end point is three years from now. The action may have started in the past or the present.

The perfect continuous tenses are used in the same way as the perfect tense, except that there is the expectation that the action will continue after the time of speaking or writing.

Exercise: Total Time and Starting Time until a Later Time

Choose the word from the following list that matches the context of the sentences below. Then, make sure you use the proper form of the verb to write the Present, Past and Future Perfect Continuous Tenses in the following sentences.
 
Present Word List: work, travel, edit, live, clean (not)
  1. He                                 at the clinic for five years, and he will probably continue to work there for at least two more years.
  2. She                                 in that house since 1982 (she is not planning to move).
  3. Jon                                 his room lately. It is so messy. I wonder when he will clean it.
  4. Lily                                 her writing since Tuesday of last week, but she should be done soon.

 

Answers show/hide
  1. has been working
  2. has been living
  1. has not been cleaning
  2. has been editing

 
Past Word List: travel, eat (not), read, call (not), sleep

  1. She                                 constantly for three weeks, and her vision was getting blurry.
  2. They                                 on their flight from Austria when the Steward finally brought them a meal.
  3. Pablo                                 for days because he was nervous about his job interview. So, he was tired when he did the interview.
  4. Mahmud was working in a different city, but he                                 his family lately because his work is so busy.
  5. They                                 all over the world before they got married. Then they had two children, and they were too busy to travel.

 

Answers show/hide
  1. had been reading
  2. had not been eating
  3. had not been sleeping
  1. had not been calling
  2. had been traveling

 
Future Word List: work drive, spend, send

  1. He                                 for ten hours by the time he arrives in Seattle.
  2. Because Pablo keeps sending me so many voice messages, I                                 so much time answering them that I don’t have time to do my work.
  3. She                                 for thirty years by the time she retires next year.
  4. By next year, they                                 letters to each other as friends for ten years.

 

Answers show/hide
  1. will have been driving
  2. will have been spending
  1. will have been working
  2. will have been writing

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English Grammar for Academic Purposes Copyright © 2025 by Randal Thiessen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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