Write it down: the present perfect continuous for status updates
About this lesson
With the present perfect continuous, learners in this B1 English for IT lesson plan write and record status updates for colleagues who missed a meeting.
- Grammar
- Have or has been + -ing for activities still going on (We've been testing it since Monday.), for and since, and the present perfect simple for results.
- Topic
- Writing up a beta review for teammates in other time zones, with words such as an owner, a next step and catch up.
- Activities
- An article on GitLab's public handbook, a team post with a TL;DR, a call about a voice update, self-checking drills, a chat and role cards, then an async update to write and record.
What's inside
Chapter 1Warm-up: Who Missed the Meeting?
Chapter 2The Story: A Handbook Anyone Can Read
Chapter 3At Work: The Beta Review TL;DR
Chapter 4Listen: One Minute for Support
Chapter 5Grammar: What Have You Been Doing?
- Study the scheme: the present perfect continuousGrammar schemeTry it
- Choose the correct option to complete each sentenceChoose the optionTry it
- Rewrite the meeting notes with the present perfect continuous: fill in the gapsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Choose the correct option: activity or result?Choose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps in Jordan's test updateFill in the gapsUnlock
Chapter 6Speak Up: The One-Minute Update
Chapter 7Homework: Your Async Update
- Read your phrase bankReal-life documentUnlock
- Do you remember? Choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
- Is the sentence correct? True or falseTrue or falseUnlock
- Find the matching pairs: abbreviations and wordsMemory gameUnlock
- Write an async update from meeting notesWriting, checked by the teacherUnlock
- Record your one-minute voice updateSpeaking, checked by the teacherUnlock
Vocabulary
12 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.
+9 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words
- an owner
- a next step
- a voice note
- a handbook
- a beta test
- catch up
- sum up
- jot down
- look into
Grammar: present perfect continuous for status updates
The present perfect continuous tense tells colleagues what has been going on up to now. Writing up a beta review for people who missed it, learners use have been + -ing for work in progress, answer How long…? with for or since, and switch to the present perfect simple for what's finished or counted.
Present perfect continuous for status updates
have / has been + -ing: an activity that started in the past and is still going on, or has just stopped. Results and counts take the present perfect simple.
Have been + -ing: the form
The form is have or has + been + verb-ing: We've been testing it. She's been testing it. Negatives add not (We haven't been using it), and questions start with have or has: How long have you been testing it? Short answers stop at the helper: Yes, I have.
| Type | I / you / we / they | he / she / it |
|---|---|---|
| Positive | We've been testing it. | She's been testing it. |
| Negative | We haven't been using it. | She hasn't been using it. |
| Question | Have you been testing it? | Has she been testing it? |
| How long? | How long have you been testing it? | How long has she been testing it? |
| Short answer | Yes, I have. / No, I haven't. | Yes, she has. / No, she hasn't. |
Still going on, or just stopped
Use it for an activity that started earlier and is still going on, We've been testing the build since Monday, or one that has just stopped: Sorry for the slow reply. I've been talking to a merchant. For takes a period, since a point: for two weeks, since 9 a.m.
When do we use it?
| Use | Example |
|---|---|
| An activity that started in the past and is still going on | We've been testing the new build since Monday. |
| An activity that has just stopped | Sorry for the slow reply. I've been talking to a merchant. |
| How long? (for / since) | How long have you been working on the QR screen? |
for or since?
| Word | Use with | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| for | a period of time | for two weeks, for three days, for an hour |
| since | a point in time | since Monday, since 9 a.m., since lunch, since the beta started |
Activity or result?
The continuous is about the activity and how long it has lasted: I've been fixing bugs all morning. Results and counts take the present perfect simple: I've fixed three bugs. Two shops have tapped Refund twice by mistake. A good update uses both, then gives the next step.
Activity or result?
Continuous: the activity, how long
- I've been fixing bugs all morning.
- Jordan has been testing the refund flow since 9 a.m.
- I've been writing the docs, but they aren't finished.
Simple: the result, how many, done
- I've fixed three bugs.
- Jordan has found two problems.
- I've finished the docs. Here's the link.
From Amara's update and call
- Bruno has been taking QR payments in his shop for two weeks.still going on
- Merchants have been asking for a CSV export for weeks.still going on
- Diego has been looking into the notifications since Monday.still going on
- I've been turning my notes into sentences.an activity up to now
- Two shops have tapped Refund twice by mistake.a count: simple
- He hasn't found the cause yet.a result: simple
Know, need, want: verbs that stay simple
Verbs for states, not actions, stay simple: know, need, want, like, understand, belong, mean. So I've been knowing is wrong: say I've known about it since Monday and These old phones have belonged to the test lab for years.
- know, need, want, like, understand, belong, mean
- I've known about it since Monday. (not: I've been knowing)
- These old phones have belonged to the test lab for years. (not: have been belonging)
In a status update
Use the continuous for what you've been working on, and the simple for what you've finished or how many: “I've been working on the QR screen since Monday. I've added a brightness setting.” Then give the next step and an ETA.
Typical mistakes
We are testing the build since Monday.
We've been testing the build since Monday.
since / for + an activity that is still going on
I've been fixing three bugs today.
I've fixed three bugs today.
a number of things done = a result: simple
She's been knowing about it for a week.
She's known about it for a week.
know is a state verb: no -ing
Have you been finish the tests?
Have you finished the tests?
been + -ing, or have + past participle; never been + base verb
More lessons on this grammar: Present perfect continuous lessons and exercises
Try the present perfect continuous exercises
Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.
What's in the lesson
- 12 auto-checked exercises
- 3 games
- 2 teacher-checked tasks
- 2 real-life documents
- 1 article
- 1 grammar scheme
- 1 set of word cards
- 1 audio clip
- 1 picture
- 1 transcript
The main objectives of this lesson are to:
- say what you've been doing and for how long: I've been working on the QR screen since the meeting. How long have you been working on that update?
- use for with a period and since with a point in time: for two weeks, since Monday, since lunch
- tell an activity from a result: I've been fixing bugs all morning. I've fixed three bugs.
- turn meeting notes into an async update with a TL;DR, decisions, owners and ETAs, then record it as a one-minute voice update
Lesson 18 closes Remote and async, unit 6 of English for IT B1 · Inside the Team, with the unit's work task: turning a meeting into an async update and a one-minute voice update. It builds on the present perfect with for and since from lesson 2 and with just, already and yet from lesson 5. Colleagues who missed a meeting across time zones need to know what has been going on.
After a wheel of questions about meetings and voice messages, students learn twelve words with pictures and audio, from an async update to look into, and take a picture quiz. A short article tells how GitLab, where everyone works remotely, keeps a public handbook and writes things down first. Amara's post sums up a beta review for three colleagues who couldn't join; students check it and pick the best line for each part of an update. In an AI-voiced call, Amara and Jordan plan a voice update for the support team.
After the scheme come four self-checking drills, among them meeting notes to rewrite with have been + -ing. Students update Kenji in a chat, then take role cards, from note taker to support lead, to turn a release meeting into one update and record it together. Homework adds a review of the unit's grammar and a memory game of FYI, ETA, EOD and TL;DR, all self-checking, then an async update to write and a voice update to record, both for the teacher to review.
- Grammar:
- present perfect continuous · present perfect simple vs continuous · for and since
- Topic:
- async communication · meeting notes · status updates · voice updates
Teaching tips
- Draw a line from Monday to now on the board: write since Monday at its start and for three days along it, then let learners time their own current tasks both ways.
- Build the TL;DR together before anyone writes: take a meeting the group really had this week and agree on one or two sentences for a colleague who missed it.
- Time the voice updates, as Jordan does in the listening: one learner counts sixty seconds while another speaks, and the group checks for a summary, an owner and an ETA.
- One-to-one, ask for a weekly written update with I've been… for work in progress and I've… for results, and start each class from its TL;DR.
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The whole course: English for IT B1 · Inside the Team
24 lessons at B1 for people who build, test or run software, in American English. Learners follow Iryna, a junior developer, through her first year at Kestrel Cloud, a fictional payments startup: standups, tickets, code review, chats across time zones and job interviews. Each lesson is built around a true story from software history.See the course
Unit 1 Hello, team
roles, stacks and first days: the present simple, the present perfect with for and since, question forms
Unit 2 The daily standup
updates and blockers: the present simple and continuous, just, already and yet, have to and need to
Unit 3 Bugs and tickets
clear bug reports: the past continuous, imperatives and the zero conditional, quantifiers
Unit 4 Code review
kind, useful comments: -ed and -ing adjectives, modals for suggestions, the first conditional
Unit 5 How it works
explaining systems step by step: time clauses, the passive, relative clauses
Unit 6 Remote and async
chat, email and time zones: polite requests, future forms, the present perfect continuous
Lesson 16Just say what you needPolite requests and indirect questions
Lesson 17Your 9 a.m. is my noonFuture forms for plans across time zones
Lesson 18 · you're hereWrite it downPresent perfect continuous for status updates
Unit 7 Users and clients
user stories and plain explanations: verb + to or -ing, reported speech, comparisons
Unit 8 Your next job
resumes and interviews: used to, the past perfect, the second conditional
