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Senior 3 · English

Careers

5 lessons

Lesson 3 of 5

Oil on Her Hands: the Present Perfect Continuous, For and Since, and Relative Pronouns

25 min

Let's begin

When an interviewer asks "How long have you been doing this?", the answer needs a tense that joins the past to the present. When you explain a job, "a person who …" saves you a whole sentence. You met the present perfect continuous in S2; this lesson sets it beside the present perfect simple, adds for and since, and then turns to the relative pronouns that make definitions and descriptions precise.

Read: an interview for the school magazine

Aline and the garage are imagined.

REPORTER: Your hands are covered in oil. What have you been doing?
ALINE: I've been changing the oil in a minibus that came in this morning. It's the third one I've done today.
REPORTER: How long have you been working here?
ALINE: I've been working here since January, so for nine months now.
REPORTER: And before that?
ALINE: I studied motor-vehicle mechanics at a TVET school. The teacher who trained us had worked in a big garage for twenty years. He's the one who told me about this place.
REPORTER: Is the work what you expected?
ALINE: Not exactly. I've been learning far more about customers than I expected. The owner, whose father opened this garage, says that a mechanic who can't explain a repair will lose customers.
REPORTER: What's the hardest part?
ALINE: The diagnostic scanner, which tells us what is wrong with an engine. I've been practising with it every evening, and I've finally understood the error codes.
REPORTER: Are people surprised that a young woman is a mechanic?
ALINE: Some are. A driver once asked to see "the real mechanic". I fixed his brakes while he waited. He has been coming back to me ever since.

Check: (1) How long has Aline worked at the garage? (2) Who told her about it? (3) What has she been practising every evening? (4) Why does the driver keep coming back?

Show answersHide answers

(1) For nine months, since January. (2) The teacher who trained her at the TVET school. (3) Using the diagnostic scanner. (4) She repaired his brakes well while he waited, so he trusts her work.

Definition

present perfect continuous: have/has + been + verb-ing. It describes an activity that started in the past and is still going on, or that has just stopped and left a result you can see. I've been working here since January.

for + a length of time: for nine months, for two hours, for ages. since + the point when it began: since January, since 2024, since I left school.

Form and use

	Form	Example
Positive	I / you / we / they have been + -ing he / she / it has been + -ing	She has been training apprentices for years.
Negative	haven't / hasn't been + -ing	I haven't been sleeping well before the interview.
Question	Have/Has + subject + been + -ing?	How long have you been waiting?

Use	Example from the interview
1. An activity that started in the past and continues now (with for, since, how long)	I've been working here since January.
2. An activity that has just stopped and explains what we see now	Your hands are covered in oil. What have you been doing?
3. A repeated activity up to now, with stress on the effort or the time	I've been practising with it every evening.

Continuous or simple?

Present perfect continuous: the activity	Present perfect simple: the result or the number
I've been changing oil all morning.	It's the third one I've done today.
She has been writing applications this week.	She has written four applications.
I've been practising with the scanner.	I've finally understood the error codes.

Verbs of state, such as know, believe, understand, own, belong, want, are normally not used in the continuous: I've known him since S1, not I've been knowing him.

Worked example

From facts to one sentence with for or since

Facts: Aline started at the garage in January. It is now October. She is still there.

Is the activity still going on? Yes, so use the present perfect continuous: has been working.
Do you have a point or a length? January is a point: since January. January to October is a length: for nine months.
Write both: Aline has been working at the garage since January. / Aline has been working at the garage for nine months.
Ask the question: How long has Aline been working at the garage?

Relative pronouns

A relative clause gives information about a noun, and a relative pronoun joins it to that noun.

Pronoun	Refers to	Example
who	people	An agronomist is a person who advises farmers.
which	things and animals	The scanner, which cost a lot, tells us what is wrong.
that	people or things, in defining clauses only	The minibus that came in this morning is ready.
whose	possession: "his", "her", "its", "their"	The owner, whose father opened the garage, is strict.
where	places	That's the school where I studied mechanics.
when	times	I remember the day when I passed my test.

A defining clause tells us which one, and has no commas: The teacher who trained us worked in a big garage.
A non-defining clause adds extra information about a noun we already know, between commas, and never uses that: Mr Habimana, who trained us, worked in a big garage.
In a defining clause you may leave out the pronoun when it is the object: the job (that) I applied for. You may not leave it out when it is the subject: the man who fixed my bike.

Worked example

Joining two sentences with a relative pronoun

Join: The owner is very strict. His father opened the garage.

Find the shared person or thing: the owner = his.
Choose the pronoun: his shows possession, so use whose.
Defining or extra? There is only one owner, so the clause adds extra information: use commas.
Place the clause straight after the noun: The owner, whose father opened the garage, is very strict.

Try the same steps on a definition: A midwife is a health worker. She cares for women during birth. Shared person: a health worker = she; subject, person: who; it tells us which kind of health worker, so no commas: A midwife is a health worker who cares for women during birth.

Tip

For = how long. Since = since when. If you can put "a length" in front of the time (a length of nine months), use for. If the time answers "starting when?", use since.

Warning

Wrong: I am working here since January. (French depuis uses the present tense, but English does not.) Right: I have been working here since January.
Wrong: since two years. Right: for two years, or since 2024.
Don't repeat the pronoun: wrong the man who he fixed my bike; right the man who fixed my bike.
Use who for people and which for things: wrong the mechanic which; right the mechanic who. Never put that after a comma.

How to use the present perfect continuous tense, 6 Minute Grammar, from BBC Learning English (about 6 minutes). Write down two example sentences from the programme, and say which of the three uses in the table each one shows.

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Practice

Write for or since: (a) ___ six months; (b) ___ last Monday; (c) ___ I was twelve; (d) ___ a long time; (e) ___ 2025.
Put the verb in the present perfect continuous: (a) Patrick ___ (treat) cattle in this district for three years. (b) How long ___ you ___ (wait) for the bus? (c) They ___ (not / study) for the interview.
Choose the present perfect simple or continuous: (a) I (have read / have been reading) three job adverts today. (b) She (has known / has been knowing) the manager for years. (c) You look tired. (Have you worked / Have you been working) late?
Write one sentence for each situation, with for or since: (a) Grace started supervising the receptionists in March. She still does it. (b) It started raining two hours ago. It is still raining.
Complete with who, which, whose, where: (a) A pharmacy is a shop ___ medicines are sold. (b) The applicant ___ CV was the clearest got the job. (c) The certificate ___ she earned is recognised everywhere. (d) A tour guide is someone ___ shows visitors around.
Join each pair with a relative pronoun: (a) This is the TVET school. Aline studied mechanics here. (b) Mr Habimana trained us. He worked in a big garage for twenty years. (Use commas.)
Correct the mistake in each sentence: (a) She is working at the hotel since 2023. (b) The vet which treated our cow was very kind. (c) My uncle, that is an electrician, helped me.
Write four sentences about your own life with the present perfect continuous and for or since, and two definitions of jobs with who.

Show answersHide answers

(a) for; (b) since; (c) since; (d) for; (e) since.
(a) has been treating; (b) have … been waiting; (c) haven't been studying.
(a) have read (a number: three); (b) has known (a state verb); (c) Have you been working (a recent activity with a visible result).
(a) Grace has been supervising the receptionists since March. (b) It has been raining for two hours.
(a) where; (b) whose; (c) which (or that); (d) who.
(a) This is the TVET school where Aline studied mechanics. (b) Mr Habimana, who trained us, worked in a big garage for twenty years.
(a) She has been working at the hotel since 2023. (b) The vet who treated our cow was very kind. (c) My uncle, who is an electrician, helped me.
Open answer. Check have/has + been + -ing, the choice of for or since, and that each definition says what the person does.

Sources and credits

Interview with Aline (imagined speaker and garage), grammar tables, timeline, worked examples and practice: written by Ganzaa.
Video: How to use the present perfect continuous tense, 6 Minute Grammar, BBC Learning English, embedded from YouTube, not copied.

Written by Ganzaa.

1Read: an interview for the school magazine

2Form and use

3Continuous or simple?

4Relative pronouns

Read: an interview for the school magazine

Form and use

Continuous or simple?

Relative pronouns