Why have you been standing there?
The phrase "have been searching" is in the present perfect continuous tense. It indicates an action that started in the past, is still ongoing in the present, and may continue into the future.
A tense is a way of referring to a time (past, present or future) in language. Eg. if you say 'I have walked half a mile today', you are using the past tense because you have finished walking at the moment of speaking. Within each tense, there is a further subdivision: simple and continuous. If you want to stress the duration of the action of which you speak (the fact that it is/was/will be going on), you use the continuous. Here are some examples of every tense and its variations: present simple: I walk present continuous: I am walking present perfect simple: I have walked present perfect continuous: I have been walking past simple: I walked past continuous: I was walking past perfect simple: I had walked past perfect continuous: I had been walking future simple: I will walk future continuous: I will be walking future perfect: I will have walked future perfect continuous: I will have been walking
The nine types of verb tenses are: simple present, simple past, simple future, present perfect, past perfect, future perfect, present continuous, past continuous, and future continuous. Each tense conveys different timing and completion aspects of an action or event.
'You are replying' is Present (Simple) Continuous.If you want to retain the 'continuous' and the 'simple' sense, ...'You were replying' is the Past (Simple) Continuous.But if you want to include both continuous and 'non-continuous' senses etc, here are a few more 'past' options:You replied - Past SimpleYou have replied - A past action that has a present result ('Present Perfect' tense)You had replied e.g. "I was going to write again and ask you to reply, but then I realised that you had replied already." - A past action that happened before another past action ('Past Perfect' tense)You had been replying - Past Perfect ContinuousYou have been replying - e.g. "I like the way you work. You've been replying very promptly to all those enquiries." - A continuous or repeated activity that has been engaged in before the present, is relevant to the present, and which has continued. - Present Perfect Continuous
Yes, the present perfect continuous tense can be used in negative statements to show that an action has not been ongoing. For example, "She has not been studying for the exam."
If you mean Present Continuous Tense here is what it is-We use the Present Continuous Tense to talk about activities happening now..ExamplesThe kids are watching TV. I am sitting down, because I am tired
The present perfect continuous tense is used to describe an ongoing action that began at some time in the past, is continuing in the present, and may continue into the future. It is formed with "have/has been" + present participle (verbs ending in -ing).
Future: She is going to be here on Thursday. We will go there as soon as possible. It will be dark before you get to Jane's house. You will be sorry! Jack and Susan are getting married next May. Present Perfect: Your cousin has recommended this book. The Liberals have promised to pas this law. Mary has broken her left ankle. We have been living here since 1973. - (this is present perfect continuous) She has studied German for 7 years.
Present Continuous
Here are some examples of past perfect continuous tense: She had been studying for hours before the exam. They had been waiting for the bus for over an hour when it finally arrived. He had been working at the company for five years before he got promoted.
Sure, here's an example: "She has finished her homework before heading out to play soccer."
The present continuous/it's also called present progressive. (At the moment , here and now + you can use it for picture descriptions.)