| Let's look at the sentence pattern. |
| Do you remember the focus sentence from the dialogue? |
| Construction at this site has been increasing steadily since we began a few months ago. |
| This sentence follows the pattern here. |
| This pattern is the structure that all of our examples will follow. |
| Topic + has/have + been + -ing verb |
| This structure is called the present perfect continuous tense. |
| We use it to describe something that started in the past and is still continuing now, often to show steady progress or change. |
| Let’s go part by part. |
| The topic is the subject — what the sentence is about. It tells us which project, task, or activity is being discussed. |
| “Has” or “have” follows, and which to choose depends on the subject (for example, whether the subject is singular or plural). |
| “Been + -ing verb” forms the continuous action. This part highlights that the activity has not just happened once, but has continued or repeated over a period of time. |
| Now let’s look at the example sentence: |
| “Construction at this site has been increasing steadily since we began a few months ago.” |
| The topic is “Construction at this site” — this tells us what has been happening. |
| “Has been increasing” is the verb phrase. “Has been” sets up the ongoing time frame, and “increasing” is the -ing verb that shows continuous growth. |
| The phrase “steadily since we began a few months ago” adds detail about how and when the progress has taken place. |
| So the full sentence follows the pattern: |
| Topic (“Construction at this site”) + has been + -ing verb (“increasing”) |
| This structure helps communicate that the project is moving forward and continuing to develop over time. |
| Now let's look at some speaking examples. |
| The bank has been opening many new branches recently. |
| Can you see how the pattern applies here? |
| “The bank” is the topic. “Has been opening” is the present perfect continuous verb form, and “many new branches” is the object of the action. This structure shows that the activity started in the past and is still happening or has happened repeatedly up to now. |
| Next… |
| During my time as CEO, the company has been growing rapidly. |
| The topic here is “the company.” “Has been growing” follows the same verb structure and shows steady development. The phrase “during my time as CEO” gives the time frame for this ongoing growth. |
| Let’s try one more, |
| I’ve been writing this report since I got to work this morning. |
| “I” is the topic, and “have been writing” is the present perfect continuous verb phrase. This sentence makes it clear that the action started earlier today and is still in progress now. |
| Another one. |
| I’ve been working as an assistant for two months. |
| Here, “I” is again the topic. The phrase “have been working” shows an ongoing role or activity, and “for two months” gives a clear time duration for how long the action has been continuing. |
| One last example. |
| I’ve been copying documents all afternoon. |
| In this case, “I” is the topic, and “have been copying” shows the repeated or continuous action. “All afternoon” tells us the time frame for the ongoing task. |
Comments
Hide