Forming questions with present perfect continuous tense

To form the basic question with present perfect continuous tense, start with the helping verb "have" or "has", add the subject, the word "been", followed by the base form of the verb with "ing".

Example

Next to regular sentence, we will notice that only the subject and helping verb switch places.

1. It has been raining all day. -> Has it been raining all day?
2. You have been using this phone for more than two years. -> Have you been using this phone for more than two years?
3. The baby has been crying for a long time. -> Has the baby been crying for a long time?

Negative questions

To make these questions negative, we can add the word "not" after the subject or the helping verb of the sentence. When you use the contracted form "n't", "not" is attached to the helping verb and comes before the subject. Contracted form is more common in informal speech and sounds more conversational, while putting "not" after the subject sounds more formal.

1. Has it been raining all day?

   • Has it not been raining all day?
   • Hasn't it been raining all day?

2. Have you been using this phone for more than two years?

   • Have you not been using this phone for more than two years?
   • Haven't you been using this phone for more than two years?

3. Has the baby been crying for a long time?

   • Has the baby not been crying for a long time?
   • Hasn't the baby been crying for a long time?

Practice questions

Select the correct question from the given words.