Present Perfect Continuous

When we want to talk about an action or actions that started in the past and continued until recently or that continue into the future.

1. To refer to an action that has finished but you can still see evidence

• Oh, the kitchen is a mess. Who has been cooking?
• You look tired. Have you been sleeping properly?

2. To an action that has not finished

• I've been waiting for 30 minutes and he still hasn't arrived.
• I've been learning English for 20 years and I still don't know very much.

3. To a series of actions.

• He's been phoning me all week for an answer.
• She's been writing to her regularly for a couple of years.

We often used with 'since', 'for', 'all week', 'for days', 'lately', 'recently', 'over the last few months'.