The present perfect and the present perfect progressive

Compare these two sentences:

I have worked at Gold's gym since 2000. (present perfect)

I have been working at Gold's gym since 2000. (present perfect progressive)

Both sentences mean that the action began in the past and continues into the present.However, only the present perfect progressive means that the action will probably continue in the future.This is a difference between the two tenses.

Now what happens if an action that began in the past and continues into the present is not finished? It will probably continue in the future, right? That's a situation when we use the present perfect progressive:

Jan has been working in her office all day.             (her Job is not finished,so she will continue working)

My mom has been preparing a new dish for two hours.     (the preparation is difficult,so it's not finished)

Now let`s see another difference between these two tenses:


I have read an interesting book about UFOs.        ( the action is completed. It`s finished )

Tony has been reading a book about UFOs.         ( the action is not completed. It`s not finished)


This is a very clear difference in meaning between the present perfect and the present perfect progressive.

   Remember: if you want to specify when the action finished, use the simple past and a time expression:

   I read a good book  about aliens last month.

Finally, let`s see other uses of  the present perfect progressive and the present perfect:

Present perfect Progressive
Look, it has been raining.The streets are wet.      ( the action finished recently and you can see the result)

Oh no, the children have been fighting again. They are crying.

Present perfect
My cousins have traveled to Miami five times.               ( number of times you have done something)

I`ve had three cups of coffee this morning.                     ( number of things; in this case the cups of coffee the person has drunk)