B2 The Present Perfect Continuous

The present perfect continuous tense is formed with the present tense of the verb to have + been + -ing form: I/You/we/they have been waiting. He/she/it has been waiting. We use the present perfect continuous tense to speak about situations which started in the past and are still continuing, or which have just finished and affect the present: I've been living here for 12 years. I feel tired because I've been working all day. We can use both the present perfect simple and the present perfect continuous to speak about situations that started in the past and are still continuing and also about situations that have just finished and affect the present. The difference between the two tenses in both these situations is one of focus. If we say: I've been writing letters all morning. we are focusing on the action of writing itself, and thinking of it as an extended activity that may not have finished yet. If we say: I've written six letters this morning. we are focusing on the idea that the six letters have already been completed. Another difference is that we use the present perfect continuous to speak more about temporary situations and actions, and the present perfect simple to speak about more permanent situations and actions: The television has been playing up lately. (Look up this new PV!) That television has never worked, as far as I can remember.