Present Perfect Simple & Continuous: For and Since
Explain how long, what you have been doing and what you have achieved.
By the end: Choose the simple or continuous form to describe an ongoing situation, recent activity or completed result, and use for and since accurately.
Tutor guide: Let the learner try first. Use the short follow-up questions and ask them to explain one quiz choice. Extra discussion is optional.
The quick answer
Use for + a length of time and since + a starting point. Use the simple for ongoing states: I’ve known her for years. Use the continuous to focus on activity: I’ve been studying since nine. Use the simple for a completed result: I’ve finished two exercises.
A friend asks how your new course is going. You want to explain when you started, how much time you have spent studying and what you have finished. These forms help you give a clear update.
On your own: Read each explanation, answer the short speaking prompt aloud (or write if needed), then reveal the model and improve your answer. Finish with the quiz and final task.
The extra-detail panels are optional. Keep the main route to about 25 minutes; take longer if the discussion is useful.
1. For measures time. Since marks the start.
For: how much time?
for twenty minutes · for six months · for a long time
I’ve had this laptop for three years.
I got it three years ago and still have it.
Since: from when?
since nine o’clock · since Monday · since 2022
I’ve had this laptop since I started university.
The starting point can be an event or a clause: since I started uses the past simple for the starting event.
Past start → continuing period → now. Worked example: it is noon now. You started studying at 10 a.m. and are still studying. “I’ve been studying for two hours” and “I’ve been studying since 10 a.m.” describe the same period.
Both expressions can go with either present perfect form. The choice of for or since does not decide the tense.
Watch the time frame: “I lived there for three years” describes a finished past period. “I’ve lived here for three years” connects that period to now. For is not exclusive to the present perfect. Use for three years, not since three years.
Listen, then repeat one example. Pause and change a detail.
Read the recorded examples
I’ve had this laptop for three years. I’ve had this laptop since I started university.
2. Build the forms and choose your focus
| Meaning | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Ongoing state | have/has + past participle | I’ve known Maya for ten years. |
| Activity over time | have/has + been + verb-ing | She’s been practising since breakfast. |
| Completed result or total | have/has + past participle | She’s recorded three songs this week. |
| Simple negative | haven’t/hasn’t + past participle | I haven’t seen him since Friday. |
| Continuous negative | haven’t/hasn’t + been + verb-ing | He hasn’t been sleeping well for weeks. |
| Ask about duration | How long + have/has + subject …? | How long have you had it? How long have you been learning Italian? |
I’ve = I have; she’s been = she has been. Past participles include worked, lived, known, had, written. In the continuous, been stays the same: has been learning, not has being learning.
State: still true now
I’ve known my neighbour for years.
Knowing is a state. We normally avoid continuous forms with know, believe, own and have meaning possession.
Activity: time and effort
I’ve been learning Italian for six months.
The focus is the ongoing learning process. It does not mean I study every minute.
Both forms can be correct: “I’ve lived here for five years” and “I’ve been living here for five years” can describe the same continuing situation. Verbs such as live, work and teach often allow both.
A little more detail: focus and negatives
The continuous draws attention to the ongoing situation and can suggest something temporary in context. It does not automatically mean temporary.
I haven’t seen him since Friday means there has been no meeting in that period. He hasn’t been sleeping well for weeks describes a repeated problem with sleep, not a complete absence of sleep.
Listen, then repeat one example. Pause and change a detail.
Read the recorded examples
I’ve known Maya for ten years. I’ve been learning Italian for six months. She’s been practising since breakfast.
3. A finished result or a recent activity?
What have you completed?
I’ve written four emails since lunch.
The four emails are complete. The simple gives a total achieved in the period up to now.
What have you been doing?
I’ve been writing emails for an hour.
The activity and its duration matter. This does not tell us how many emails are finished.
The continuous can also explain evidence now of an activity that has just stopped: My hands are dirty because I’ve been fixing my bike. I may be taking a break. The continuous does not always mean the activity is happening at this exact moment.
Useful decision: Am I describing a state, an activity over time or a completed result? Then choose the time expression. For an hour gives the duration; since lunch gives the start.
Listen, then repeat one example. Pause and change a detail.
Read the recorded examples
I’ve written four emails since lunch. I’ve been writing emails for an hour. My hands are dirty because I’ve been fixing my bike.
Hear the examples together
British English model audio · Libby (synthetic voice)
Listen without opening the transcript. Note one duration, one starting point and the number of completed emails. Then repeat one sentence with your own details.
Listen once, then repeat a sentence with your own details.
Check the listening task
Durations include three years, six months and an hour. Starting points include starting university, breakfast and lunch. Ten years is another duration in the recording. Four emails are complete. The final bike example explains dirty hands through recent activity.
Full transcript
I’ve had this laptop for three years. I’ve had this laptop since I started university.
I’ve known Maya for ten years. I’ve been learning Italian for six months. She’s been practising since breakfast.
I’ve written four emails since lunch. I’ve been writing emails for an hour. My hands are dirty because I’ve been fixing my bike.
Repair two messages
Say or write a corrected version first. Then open the explanation.
1. I am studying English since January.
Show the correction and reason
I’ve been studying English since January.
The study began in the past and continues now. The continuous emphasises the ongoing activity. “I’ve studied English since January” is also possible; the original present continuous does not express the period from January to now.
2. I’ve been knowing my best friend since six years.
Show the correction and reason
I’ve known my best friend for six years.
Know is normally a state verb, so use the simple. Six years is a duration, so use for.
Mastery quiz: eight exercises with answers
Choose one best answer for each situation. Work without the table first, then check your answers. Each choice has its own explanation.
Answer key with explanations
for Five years measures the duration, so use for.
since She moved to Lyon gives the starting event. Since can introduce a clause.
have known Know describes a continuing state. Have known connects the past to now.
have written Have written presents six finished applications within the period up to now.
She has been running. The continuous can explain present evidence of an activity that has just stopped.
How long have you been learning Spanish? Question order is how long + have + subject + been + -ing.
Both can describe a situation continuing now. Both are possible with live. Context and the speaker’s focus can favour one.
I’ve been revising for two hours. / I’ve been revising since 1 p.m. For two hours measures the duration; since 1 p.m. identifies the start. Both sentences describe the same activity continuing now.
This checks your understanding of this lesson. It does not assign an overall English level.
Use it without the model
Give a 45-second update about a real or imagined hobby, course or project. Include an ongoing state, an activity with for or since, and a completed result. Finish with one next step.
Compare a possible response
I’ve had my camera for three years. I’ve been taking a photography course since May. I’ve completed two projects so far. Next, I want to practise taking portraits.
Self-check: Use have/has + a past participle for the state or completed result, and have/has been + -ing for the activity. Check that for measures time and since names its starting point.
If a choice still feels uncertain, revisit the explanation and try a new example.