The present perfect continuous tense
Exercise 1. Choose the appropriate tense form.
1. The price of petrol has risen / has been rising by 15 % over the past year. 2. No wonder you are overweight! You have eaten / have been eating chocolates all day long! 3. I have read / have been reading “Gone with the wind” this morning. 4. Doesn’t the room look better? I have whitewashed / have been whitewashing the ceiling. 5. Who has worn / has been wearing my scarf? 6. Nicholas has asked / has been asking for a pay-rise three times this year. 7. Someone has eaten / has been eating all my chocolates. The box is empty. 8. Have you decided / Have you been deciding where to go? – Not yet. We have thought / have been thinking about it for the whole week. 9. I remember meeting your sister last month, but I haven’t seen / haven’t been seeing her this month. What has she done / has she been doing since then? 10. Oh, David, I have looked / have been looking for you.
Exercise 2. Put the verbs in brackets into the Present Perfect or the Present Perfect Continuous.
1. I (collect) coins since I graduated from the University. Now I (collect) enough to organize an interesting exhibition. 2. She (read) a fairy tale to the children since breakfast. They (not / finish) yet. 3. Those people (wait) for a tram for the last fifteen minutes. I’m afraid, they don’t know that the electricity (go) out. 4. What (happen) to Mary? John (ring) her up the whole evening and nobody (answer). 5. So, you (arrive). We just (speak) of you. 6. The secretary (type) the letters you gave her but she (not / finish) them yet. 7. There’s sufficient light, you (waste) electricity for nearly an hour. 8. Look! The children (fall) asleep! 9. We (meet) before? 10. She (study) French for two years and (learn) a lot of words and expressions. 11. I (not / hear) of her since yesterday. 12. I (look) for Jack since I finished my lesson but I (not / find) him. I (be) to his office and to the laboratory but he isn’t there. 13. I really don’t know what you (do) there all this time. 14. They (struggle) with this problem for about a week and they (solve) it at last. 15. She (do) shaping since September and her figure (improve) remarkably. 16. You (pass) your exam in English literature? 17. I (try) to learn English for years but (not make) good progress yet. 18. That book (lie) on the table for weeks. You (not read) it yet? 19. I (wait) here for her since 7 o’clock and she (not come) yet. 20. I (read) “War and Peace” for the last three months. 21. I (think) about you all day. 22. He never (be) here before. 23. I can’t help being angry with you; you (sit) here all the time and (do) nothing. 24. There is nothing to be proud of; you (not get) a single excellent mark yet. 25. I (work) so hard this week that I (not have) time to go to the cinema. 26. The girls (talk) about their new dresses for half an hour already; it
Exercise 3. Translate into English.
1. Ты съел все конфеты? 2. Почему у тебя черные губы? – Я ела чернику. 3. Она сегодня делала покупки и наконец нашла себе летние туфли. 4. Ты знакома с Томом? – Я знаю его целую вечность. 5. Я все утро занимаюсь домашней работой и еще ничего не сделала. 6. Он переводит эту статью уже два часа, а перевел только половину. 7. Твой брат уехал работать в Англию? – Да. Он работает в Англии уже два месяца. 8. Он уже окончил университет? – Да, он уже два года работает. 9. Давно он читает эту книгу? – Неделю, хотя обычно он быстро читает книги. 10. Мы живем в этом городе пять лет. Город сильно изменился за это время. 11. Его сестра работает в библиотеке с тех пор, как окончила университет. 12. Сколько времени ты читаешь этот роман?
Exercise 4. Open the brackets using the Present Indefinite, the Present Continuous, the Present Perfect or the Present Perfect Continuous.
1. Paul, you (hear) me? I (talk) to you for a minute already. 2. I want to see how much the place (change) since I was there last. 3. I (be) perfectly happy. All my life I (be) perfectly happy. 4. Wait till you (see) Michael and (talk) to him. 5. The children (live) with their aunt now since their mother (be) ill. 6. The train (not / arrive) yet but a great number of people (stand) on the platform. 7. Mrs. Cusak (not / feel) well for over a month. 8. How many English lessons you (have) lately? 9. Look, the sky (get) darker and darker. I think it (go) to rain. 10. Since when you (learn) German? – Since I got to university. 11. I (study) hard of late. I have exams next week. 12. It (rain) steadily for two days on end now. 13. It is the first time he (clean) his own boots. 14. I (know) him very well. We (know) each other since I came to live in this house. 15. Where you (be)? I (wait) for you for over an hour.
Exercise 5. Put the verbs in brackets into the correct tense:
1. I (buy) a new house last year, but I (not sell) my old house yet, so at the moment I have two houses. 2. When Ann (be) on her way to the station it (begin) to rain. Ann (run) back to her flat for her umbrella, but this (make) her late for her train. 3. I’m sorry I’m late, you (wait) long? 4. At 7 a.m. Charles (ring) Peter and (say), ‘I’m going fishing, Peter. Would you like to come?’ ‘But it’s so early,’ (say) Peter. ‘I (not have) breakfast yet. Why you (not tell) me last night?’ 5. Tom (meet) Paul at lunch time and (say), ‘I (not see) you at the bus stop this morning. You ( miss) the bus?’ ‘I (not miss) it,’ (reply) Paul. ‘I (not miss) a bus for years. But this morning George (give) me a lift.’ 6. You look tired. I think you (work) too hard lately and you (not/get) enough fresh air and exercise. 7. Peter (try) to come in quietly but his mother (hear) him and (call) out, ‘Where you (be)? Your supper (be) in the oven for an hour.’ 8. ‘Annie’s clothes are very dirty. What (she/do)?’ ‘She (play) in the garden.’ 9. The clock is slow. – It isn’t slow, it (stop). 10. He (not smoke) for two weeks. He is trying to give it up. 11. The actors (arrive) yesterday and (start) rehearsals early this morning. 12. You (lock) the door before you (leave) the house? 13. Sally and her boyfriend Peter (go out) together since last winter.. 14. We (miss) the bus. Now we’ll have to walk. 15. Mr. Count (work) as a cashier for twenty-five years. Then he (retire) and (go) to live in the country. 16. Where is Tom? – I (not see) him today, but he (tell) Mary that he’d be in for dinner. 17. Where you (find) this knife? – I (find) it in the garden. – Why you (not leave) it there? 18. I (lose) my black gloves. You (see) them anywhere? – I’m afraid I ... . When you last (wear) them? – I (wear) them at the theatre. – Perhaps you (leave) them at the theatre.
Exercise 6. Translate into English.
1. «Вы давно здесь работаете?» «Около четырех лет.» 2. «Вот и Джон, – сказал он. – Я давно его жду.» 3. Я со вчерашнего вечера думаю о том, что ты сказал. 4. Где ты был? Я все утро тебя ищу. 5. Скажите, когда придет ваш директор. Я жду его с 11 часов. 6. Дождь идет уже три дня. 7. Я его только что видела. Он переходил улицу. 8. Когда ты пришел? 9. Она мне все рассказала. 10. Вчера вечером, когда мы ехали домой, он мне все рассказал. 11. Они играют в шахматы с обеда. 12. Когда она вам в последний раз писала? 13. Он тренирует эту команду всего полгода, но они сделали большие успехи. 14. Он посмотрел на меня, но ничего не сказал. Он ждал кого-то. 15. Вы давно знаете этого молодого человека? 16. С какого времени вы изучаете английский язык? 17. Мы ждем здесь с двух часов, и никто не сказал нам, что делать.
Exercise 7. Use the required tense.
1. She (go) to Italy five years ago. Since then she (not to speak) Italian, and she (forget) nearly all she (learn) there. 2. When he (run) after the tram, he (fall) and (hurt) his leg. We (have) to carry him home. Now he (lie) in bed. The doctor just (leave). The doctor (say) he must stay in bed for a week. 3. He (look) through my album when I (enter). “You (like) my sketches?” I (ask) him. “They (not to be) very good.” 4. What you (look) for? – I (lose) my pen and (want) to find it before it (get) dark. – When you (lose) it? – I (think) I (drop) it somewhere here when I (go) to the University this afternoon. 5. My friend Robert (learn) French for the last three years, and now he (study) German, too. 6. You (speak) to Ann yesterday? – No, I (not to see) her for a long time. I (not to remember) when I last (see) her. 7. My brother (study) modern English literature for two years and then (give) it up. 8. I (look) at this photograph for five minutes, but I can’t see you in it. – I’m afraid you (look) at the wrong one. 9. You must stop reading; you can have a headache because you (read) too long! 10. My elder brother (join) the army when he (be) eighteen. 11. They (live) in that town for ten years and then (move) to the country. 12. We (live) here for the last six months, and just (decide) to move. 13. He (write) a new play for the last two years, but he (not to finish) it yet.