The Present Perfect Continuous

20.1. Make the following sentences negative and interrogative.

1. He has been painting this fence for a long time. 2. My secretary has been typing the report for 5 hours. 3. The boys have been trying to fix that bike since morning. 4. It has been snowing heavily during the whole night. 5. He has been writing this letter since the lecture began. 6. I have been buying food here since I came to this town. 7. He has been living in this city since 1970.

20.2. Complete the sentences using the Present Perfect Continuous Tense.

Pattern: His clothes are dirty (He / to work / in the garden)

He has been working in the garden.

1. He is very tired (He / to play football). 2. The boy’s eyes are red and watery (He / to cry). 3. He is looking at his watch (He / to wait for a long time). 4. She doesn’t remember the teacher’s words (She / to day-dream). 5. They know this place very well (They / to travel around a lot). 6. Their eyes ache (They / to watch TV). 7. He’s got a cough (He / to smoke) since he was a teenager. 8. His fingers are stained with ink (He / to write a lot). 9. They look exhausted (They / to work overtime / lately). 10. The boy has to go to dentist (He / to eat too many sweets).

20.3. Paraphrase the following sentences using the words in brackets and conjunctions forandsince.

Pattern: They are working here (Monday).

They have been working here since Monday.

1. She is writing a test (12 o’clock). 2. Tom is watching TV (2 hours). 3. He is traveling a lot (winter). 4. He is working hard (he entered the University). 5. Tony is walking the dog (15 minutes). 6. They are fixing their car (yesterday). 7. Betty is writing a letter to her friend (she came home). 8. My friend is learning Spanish (2 years). 9. Bill is making films (he left college). 10. The students are writing (the lecture began).

20.4. Compose the sentences according to the models.

Pattern: clean, flat, wash, linen, my sister.

I have cleaned the flat. Let my sister wash the linen.

1. Help, Peter, him, do, exercises, himself.

2. I, do the shopping, her, cook, dinner.

3. He, make fortune, his son, earn, his living.

4. I, make, dress, Lucy, wear, it.

5. Mother, make, cake, us, invite, friends.

6. Nick, hit, his arm, his brother, carry, suitcase.

7. It, become, dark, her, stay, at our place.

Pattern: work, since, morning, come, next, time.

I’ve been working since morning. You’d better come next time.

1. Play football, for two hours, help, with my homework, now.

2. Weather, change, since morning, take, umbrella.

3. Rain, for 3 hours, put on, raincoat.

4. Watch, you performing tricks, for an hour, begin, do your homework.

5. You, wear, the dress, for a year, buy, another dress.

6. Walk, since morning, for two hours, do the flat, yourself.

20.5. Make up the dialogues according to the pattern

Pattern:

.

1. It is snowing. 2. He is waiting for the train. 3. Her son is watching TV. 4. His daughter is drawing a picture. 5. The girls are playing with their dolls. 6. He is composing some music. 7. The journalist is writing an article. 8. The baby is crying.

20.6. Ask the questions to the sentences beginning with the words in brackets.

1. She has been packing her suitcase since morning. (What? Why?). 2. Arthur has been driving for 6 hours without any rest. (Who? How?). 3. Ed has been playing with his dog in the park since morning. (Who … with? Where? Who?). 4. Their son has been fighting with his sister since breakfast. (Who? What? Who … with?). 5. My husband has been watching football on TV since breakfast. (Who? What?). 6. They’ve been looking for a restaurant since they came to the town. (Who? Where? What … for?).

20.7. Use the Present Perfect Progressive instead of the infinitives in brackets.

1. I (not to sleep) for 23 hours. 2. She (to work) in the library for the last 5 hours. 3. We just (to speak) about you. 4. What you (to do) in my absence? 5. Who (to watch) us? 6. She (to have) a toothache since morning. 7. They (to play) football for 2 hours. 8. She (to dance) since yesterday evening. 9. Where you (to sit) all this time? 10. She (to tell) a lot of lies about me, I’m sure. 11. I (to look for) an umbrella for an hour now. 12. He (to clean) the windows since 9 o’clock in the morning. 13. Why you (to walk) in the garden for so long? 14. Have you seen my bad? – I (to search) for it all morning. 15. Sarah is very tired. She (to work) hard all day.

20.8. Complete the sentences. Use the Present Continuous or the Present Perfect Continuous.

1. Mark isn’t studying now. He (to watch) TV. He (to watch) TV since 7 p.m.. 2. Mary is standing at the corner. She (to wait) for the bus. She (to wait) for the bus for 10 minutes. 3. I (to sit) in class right now. I (to sit) since 9 a.m.. 4. She (to wash) her hands right now. She (to wash) her hands for 7 minutes. 5. He (to lead) a double life. He (to lead) a double life since the beginning of the year. 6. John and Carol (to talk) on the phone right now. They (to talk) on the phone over an hour. 7. I don’t know why you (to tell) me all this. You (to tell) me all this for 2 hours.

20.9. Use the Present Perfect or the Present Perfect Continuous.

A.)1. I’m planning to buy a new house. I (to look) for one for 2 months now. So far I (to look) at 10 houses, but I (not to find) one I liked. 2. My Spanish lessons are going very well. I (to learn) Spanish for 5 months now and I love it. I (to learn / already) a lot. 3. John (to be) very busy recently. He (to paint) the living-room he (not to start) painting the kitchen yet. 4. Why you (not to bring) me the letters? 5. The police (not to find) the burglar yet. They (to look for) him since Saturday. 6. How long you (to have) these gloves? I (to have) them for years. 7. Customers (to ring up) all morning complaining about getting incorrect bills. – I know. Something (to go wrong) with our computer. 8. Your eyes are red. You (to cry)? 9. Ann (to fail) her exam three times because she is so bad at doing sums. But she (to practice ) for a week now. I hope she will pass it in the end. 10. He (to play) the piano since six o’clock in the morning. He only just (to stop).

B.)1. She (to walk) in the park since morning. It’s time to have dinner, but she (not to come) yet. 2. She (to read) this book for 3 days and (to read) 300 pages already. 3. He (to solve) this problem at last! He (to solve) it since breakfast. 4. How long you (to learn) French? – I (to learn) since I was 10, but can’t avoid mistakes. 5. You (to drink) too much since the party began! 6. Mike (to collect) stamps since he was 9. He (to collect) so much he doesn’t know what to do. 7. I hear Gerry’s footsteps. He (to come) back. I’m going away. I don’t want him to see I (to cry). 8. Barry (to do) his room since morning and he (not to finish) yet. 9. Jack and Tony (to play) chess since they are here. Tony (to win) 6 times already, but Jack (to win) only twice yet. 10. What (to happen) to the bridge?

20.10. Translate into English.

1.Она учит японский уже 5 лет. 2. Она сидит уже здесь несколько часов. С самого утра сидит на скамье и ждет кого-то. 3. Он пишет статью уже 3 часа. Он выпил 3 чашки кофе. 4. Эта семья живет здесь уже с весны. Они уже перессорились со всеми соседями. 5. Наконец-то вы пришли! Мы только что говорили о вас. 6. Чем ты занимался, пока меня не было. 7. Я пытаюсь найти тебя целое утро. Где ты был? Чем ты занимался? 8. Она ждет этого письма целый месяц. 9. Дилан навещал вас с тех пор, как ваша сестра уехала? 10. Где же ты был все это время? Мы искали тебя повсюду. 11. Мой друг занимается в библиотеке каждый день. Сейчас он пишет там доклад. Он работает над ним уже неделю. 12. Я учусь в университете. Я учусь здесь с сентября. 13. Я учу английский с пятого класса, и неплохо его знаю. 14. Кого вы ждете? – Петра. Я жду его уже около часа. 15. Интересно, что случилось с ним? 16. Весь день идет снег. Так много снега давно не выпадало. 17. Сколько времени вы живете здесь? – Около пяти лет. 18. Что вы сегодня делали с утра? – Я переводил очень интересную статью. 19. Сколько времени они обсуждают этот вопрос? – Более получаса.