Present Perfect Continuous

Question

I had an entrance exam and for my surprise the following sentence was regarded as wrong:

"We've been thinking" (l. 08) and "has been" (l. 10) are in the present perfect continuous.

First question:

Is that needed to have the present particle of the verb after the present perfect of the verb to be?

Second question:

Is it possible for the continuation of the sentence to modify the verb tense?

GPY · Accepted Answer

The present perfect continuous takes the form "has/have been + present participle". "has been" by itself is not in that form.

It has been cold -- present perfect tense of verb "be"
It has been snowing -- present perfect continuous tense of verb "snow".

CalifJim · Answer

Anonymouscontinuous

All continuous tenses contain a verb in -ing, so "has been" cannot be a continuous tense.

Anonymous~~Is that needed~~ Is it necessary to have ~~the present particle~~ a present participle of ~~the~~ a verb after the present perfect of the verb to be?

Yes, if you want a continuous tense. A verb in -ing = a present participle.

No -ing (present participle)? Then not continuous.

AnonymousIs it possible for the continuation of the sentence to modify the verb tense?

You may have modifiers of a verb. They are called adverbs. But the verb tense itself cannot be modified, whatever you may mean by that.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you for the answers.

Present Perfect Continuous

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