present perfect continuous questions – English Grammar Profiler

In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 31 in the category of PAST is defined:

present perfect continuous: QUESTIONS with a limited range of verbs.

Note that questions are generally low frequency in the CLC probably due to lack of spoken data.

*Also note that there are no other entries for ‘range of verbs’

PELIC STUDENT EXAMPLE:

What have you been doing?

Arabic male, Level 4 grammar class.

EXPERT EXAMPLES:

How has that been going?

TED

How long have you been searching for this?

Tron

An iWeb search for:

have|has _P been _VVG

In the 1-35 most common verb-ing are ‘have you been + verbing’

36 HAS IT BEEN GOING 104

How long has it been going on?

listen

37 HAVE YOU BEEN TALKING 98 38 HAS IT BEEN WORKING 96 39 HAVE YOU BEEN GOING 95 40 HAVE YOU BEEN TRAINING 94 41 HAVE YOU BEEN HEARING 93 42 HAVE YOU BEEN DRIVING 85 43 HAVE I BEEN MISSING 83 44 HAVE YOU BEEN WEARING 81 45 HAVE YOU BEEN RIDING 78 46 HAVE YOU BEEN SPENDING 75 47 HAVE YOU BEEN SMOKING 74 48 HAVE YOU BEEN SHOOTING 70 49 HAVE YOU BEEN STUDYING 63 50 HAVE YOU BEEN FEEDING 58 51 HAVE YOU BEEN FINDING 57 52 HAVE YOU BEEN PLANNING 57

53 HAVE I BEEN LIVING 56 UNLISTED IDIOM… Have I been living under a rock?

54 HAVE YOU BEEN SITTING 56 55 HAVE YOU BEEN HOLDING 54 56 HAVE YOU BEEN GIVING 52 57 HAVE YOU BEEN MEANING 50 58 HAVE THEY BEEN WORKING 49 59 HAVE YOU BEEN CONSIDERING 48 60 HAVE YOU BEEN DESIGNING 48 61 HAVE YOU BEEN DEALING 45 62 HAVE YOU BEEN LONGING 42 63 HAVE YOU BEEN SHOPPING 42 64 HAVE YOU BEEN PREPARING 40 65 HAVE YOU BEEN TELLING 39 66 HAVE YOU BEEN NOTICING 37 67 HAVE YOU BEEN SELLING 37 68 HAVE YOU BEEN COACHING 36 69 HAVE YOU BEEN ASKING 35 70 HAVE YOU BEEN STANDING 35 71 HAVE I BEEN USING 34 72 HAVE YOU BEEN DATING 34 73 HAVE YOU BEEN CREATING 34 74 HAVE WE BEEN WAITING 33 75 HAVE YOU BEEN ITCHING 33 76 HAVE YOU BEEN LEARNING 33 77 HAVE YOU BEEN PHOTOGRAPHING 33 78 HAVE YOU BEEN COMING 32 79 HAVE YOU BEEN CRAVING 31 80 HAVE YOU BEEN PERFORMING 31 81 HAVE YOU BEEN CHECKING 30 82 HAVE YOU BEEN AVOIDING 30 83 HAVE I BEEN WAITING 29

84 HAVE YOU BEEN ATTENDING 28

How many years have you been attending?

guitargirlmag.com

85 HAVE YOU BEEN EYEING 28 86 HAVE YOU BEEN MISSING 28 87 HAVE YOU BEEN COLLECTING 27 88 HAS IT BEEN RUNNING 27 89 HAVE YOU BEEN DRAWING 26 90 HAVE YOU BEEN BUYING 26 91 HAVE YOU BEEN BUILDING 26 92 HAVE YOU BEEN PAINTING 26 93 HAVE YOU BEEN TRAVELING 25 94 HAVE I BEEN THINKING 24 95 HAVE YOU BEEN FIGHTING 24 96 HAVE YOU BEEN SAVING 24 97 HAVE YOU BEEN FOCUSING 23 98 HAVE YOU BEEN DYING 23 99 HAVE YOU BEEN COOKING 23

100 HAVE YOU BEEN SEWING 23

A search for determiner + noun in the subject position shows that it is very low frequency:

1 HAS YOUR COMPANY BEEN USING 19

How has your company been using video since the pandemic?

indiehackers.com

A2: building, checking, collecting, dreaming, following, holding, keeping, meaning, missing, preparing, saving, selling, spending, standing, trying B1:

attending, avoiding, blogging, considering, creating, dating, designing, experiencing, feeding, fighting, hiding, noticing, performing, planning, searching, sewing, shooting, training, wondering

EXPERT EXAMPLE:

Have you been thinking about different languages 

and their role in the interaction of people of different countries?

zobuz.com