English tenses in conversation | Present Perfect Continuous | 2 TRAPS: No negative? Finished action?

Can we use the have been doing tense in the negative?

For example can we say:

It has not been raining.

Hello and welcome everyone, this is Minoo at Anglo-Link.

We don't often hear the Present Perfect Continuous tense in the negative form.

Also, we sometimes hear this tense 'have been doing' used for an action that has already stopped.

I know that that can be confusing.

So, in this lesson I'm going to clarify these two tricky points

about this tense for you, so you can continue to use it confidently.

Make sure you watch the lesson till the end where we practice these two points in two very typical conversations.

Remember to also check out my online course at

Anglo-Link.com.

This is a highly structured  course that will take you step by step to  a high level of written and spoken fluency.

The details and the link to my website are both in the description box.

Okay! Let's start the lesson by looking at  when we usually use the have been doing tense.

We use the Present Perfect Continuous for an action that started in the past and is still going on.

For example: It has been raining since Monday.

Or: It has been raining for three days.

Notice that there are two parts to this tense.

The first part is that the action started in the past.

And the second part is that the action is still going on.

Okay! Let's remove the first part.

Let's say that the action never started.

Now you would expect the opposite to be:

It has not been raining for three days.

And grammatically that's a correct sentence.

But it's illogical to use a continuous tense for an action that never started.

So, generally speaking, we change the tense to the Present Perfect:

It has not rained for three days.

Right! Now let's remove part two.

Let's say that the action started in the past but no longer continues.

So, what do we get when we say an action that started in the past and has already stopped.

We get again the Present Perfect tense.

So, let's say that it started to rain on Monday and it stopped raining on Monday.

So, the tense becomes:

It has rained once since Monday.

So, when can we say 'have not been doing'?

Usually, when there's a suggestion that an action has been going on,

and we want to insist that actually it hasn't,

or that something else has been going on instead.

For example, someone asks you:

Has it been raining again?

And you can insist by saying:

No, it has not been raining. Actually, it has been very sunny.

Let me give you another example.

Someone says to you:

I bet you've been watching television all day.

And you want to insist by saying:

No I haven't been watching television.

In fact, I've been studying since I got up.

Okay! That's point one.

Let me now tell you another tricky thing about the  Present Perfect Continuous tense.

We also use 'have been doing' for an action that has just stopped.

But its undesirable, its unwanted effect is still present.

For example, you stopped cleaning your shed a few minutes ago,

and now you notice that your back hurts.

In this situation, when the action has just stopped,

we continue to use the Present Perfect Continuous.

We say:

My back hurts because I've been cleaning the shed.

So, you've stopped, but you stopped a few minutes ago.

And now you have this unwanted effect of your back hurting.

So, let me repeat the three facts.

The first one is that the action has just stopped. Not some time ago.

The second one is that there is an undesirable, unwanted effect.

And the third one is that you may or may not continue the action later.

Okay! So, let's see what happens if you remove fact 1.

For example, you finished cleaning the shed two hours ago.

In this case, we do not use the Present Perfect Continuous tense. Obviously not!

We use the Past Simple:

My back hurts now because I cleaned the shed earlier.

Let's remove fact 2.

That is the action has no unwanted or undesirable effect.

You've just stopped cleaning the shed and you're very pleased.

The tense we use again here is Present Perfect:

I've just cleaned the shed, now I can put all my tools in it.

Right! Let's put all of that together and look at a typical conversation.

Someone says:

Your hands are covered in paint! What have you been doing?

I've been decorating.

Have you been painting the kitchen?

No, I haven't been painting the kitchen.

I've been painting the dining room.

Oh! Alright! Is it all done?

Now remember fact three, the action may or may not continue.

So, we have two options here. Option 1:

Yes, I've just finished. It's all done.

Option 2:

No, there is a little more to do, but I'm tired now.

I'll continue tomorrow.

And to finish, let's look at the typical conversation in my household.

Where have all the biscuits gone?

Have you been eating them?

No, I haven't been eating them. Tom's been eating them!

Is that so?

Yeah! I saw him eating them a few minutes ago.

Right! That's the end of this lesson.

You can watch all my lessons on the Present Perfect and Present Perfect Continuous tenses in this playlist.

And don't forget to check out my online course at Anglo-Link.com for lots of lessons and exercises.

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Thank you for watching, and I look forward to seeing you in my next lesson.

Goodbye for now.