Present Perfect Continuous Tense — Exercise 5 (Questions with Full Explanations and Verb Definition)
This Present Perfect Continuous practice set gives you 10 high-value questions plus detailed explanations for every option so you understand both form and meaning. Use this to master have/has been + verb-ing (duration, recent ongoing actions with present relevance, repeated actions, and cause/result). The distractors are intentionally close — two plausible answers and two decoys — to train careful reading and real understanding. Suitable for learners, teachers and exam prep.
Definition: Present Perfect Continuous (have/has + verb-ing form)
- Form: have / has + been + verb-ing.
- Examples: I have been working; She has been testing; Have they been waiting?
- Main uses:
- Actions that started in the past and are continuing now (use with for / since).
- Actions that have been happening recently / repeatedly with present result.
- Explaining present conditions by showing ongoing cause.
- Signal words: for, since, recently, lately, all day, how long, ever.
- Negatives/Questions: have/has not (haven’t/hasn’t) and Have/Has + subject + been + verb-ing + … + since/for + …?
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Quiz Instructions
- Read each question and choose the best answer out of four given options.
- On top, header section of the quiz, you will see the “title of the quiz,’ ‘spending-time,’ ‘value of question in points,’ and ‘number of questions.”
- Below on footer, you will see Full Screen mode. As the name suggests, it covers the whole screen. It will save a lot of your time attempting the quiz.
- You can zoom the images given in the questions.
- After submitting the quiz, you can see your score and compare with other users.
- The Full Leaderboard link will take you to a page, where you can see all users attempts.
- Below the quiz box, there are explanation of each options. You can study and try again.
- Best of Luck!
Quiz Question, Answer and Explanation
Note: Do remember in the quiz box above, the questions and options will shuffle, so they won’t have the same sequence like 1, 2, 3, or A, B, C as below.
1. I ______ the retry logic while you review the logs.
A) have been iterating B) iterated C) have iterated D) am iterating
Verb: iterate = to make successive refinements.
Correct: A) have been iterating
Why A is correct: Ongoing iterative work up to now best expressed by present perfect continuous.
Why B wrong: past single iteration.
Why C wrong: perfect simple less about ongoing refinement.
Why D wrong: present continuous narrower.
2. They ______ DB replicas to catch up since the outage.
A) have been letting B) let C) have let D) are letting
Verb: let (replicas catch up) = allow processes to complete.
Correct: A) have been letting (as in “have been letting DB replicas catch up”)
Why A is correct: Allows for a process that’s been occurring since a past event (outage) — continuous is appropriate.
Why B wrong: past.
Why C wrong: perfect simple less about ongoing allowance.
Why D wrong: present continuous lacks the since-outage duration.
3. Why ______ you ______ the same config drift after each deploy?
A) have, been fixing B) do, fix C) have, fixed D) did, fix
Verb: fix = to repair.
Correct: A) have, been fixing
Why A is correct: Present perfect continuous expresses repeated recent fixes after each deploy.
Why B wrong: simple present wrong for repeated recent events.
Why C wrong: perfect simple implies completion but not repeated continuous pattern.
Why D wrong: past.
4. We ______ the bandwidth cap for most tenants this week.
A) have been raising B) raised C) have raised D) are raising
Verb: raise = to increase.
Correct: A) have been raising
Why A is correct: Ongoing adjustments during the week — perfect continuous fits iterative action.
Why B wrong: single past increase.
Why C wrong: perfect simple plausible but continuous signals ongoing adjustments.
Why D wrong: present continuous less about the full week.
5. He ______ the incident responses personally since the outage began.
A) has been leading B) led C) has led D) is leading
Verb: lead = to direct actions.
Correct: A) has been leading
Why A is correct: Since the outage began (time from past to now) — perfect continuous shows continuous leadership.
Why B wrong: past single action.
Why C wrong: perfect simple could be used but continuous emphasizes ongoing nature.
Why D wrong: present continuous not showing the entire period since the outage.
6. They ______ incremental rollouts to reduce blast radius for hours.
A) have been doing B) did C) have done D) do
Verb: do (apply rollouts) = to perform controlled releases.
Correct: A) have been doing
Why A is correct: Ongoing hours-long activity — perfect continuous fits.
Why B wrong: past single instance.
Why C wrong: perfect simple suggests completion, not ongoing process.
Why D wrong: habitual simple present.
7. I ______ the consumer backlog while you tackle the producer issues.
A) have been reducing B) reduced C) have reduced D) reduce
Verb: reduce = to decrease backlog.
Correct: A) have been reducing
Why A is correct: Ongoing effort to reduce backlog is best expressed with perfect continuous.
Why B wrong: single past event.
Why C wrong: perfect simple could imply completion; context suggests ongoing.
Why D wrong: simple present.
8. How long ______ the analytics job ______ incomplete rows?
A) has, been processing B) is, processing C) did, process D) have, processed
Verb: process = to handle data rows.
Correct: A) has, been processing
Why A is correct: “How long” + ongoing incomplete processing → perfect continuous.
Why B wrong: present continuous lacks duration since start.
Why C wrong: past.
Why D wrong: wrong auxiliary.
9. They ______ feature telemetry into the dashboard all week.
A) have been piping B) piped C) have piped D) pipe
Verb: pipe = to stream data into a system.
Correct: A) have been piping
Why A is correct: Continuous piping over the week -> perfect continuous fits.
Why B wrong: single past pipe.
Why C wrong: perfect simple less about ongoing streaming.
Why D wrong: simple present.
10. You ______ the deployment health checks recently — grateful for that.
A) have been maintaining B) maintained C) have maintained D) maintain
Verb: maintain = to keep in good working order.
Correct: A) have been maintaining
Why A is correct: “Recently” + ongoing maintenance → perfect continuous best captures continuing attention to health.
Why B wrong: past single event.
Why C wrong: perfect simple plausible but continuous stresses ongoing activity.
Why D wrong: simple present habit.