Been or not been, that´s the question.

Good morning!

The present perfect tense is a tense that learners of English should use more. Its use is not so habitual in Spanish and this is maybe the reason why students do not use it as much as they should. As you all probably know, we use the present perfect when: 1) we talk or write about past experiences that have a result in the present situation. Example: I have learnt a lot of vocabulary (that means that now I know a lot of vocabulary). 2) We also use the present perfect for recent past actions when the specific time of the action is not mentioned or understood. For example: I have done the exercise. 3) Finally, we also use the present perfect with certain words like: "just", "since", "for",  "already" and "yet". Example: I have just called your friend and she won´t be coming today

However, we also have a variation of the present perfect in English that is called Present Perfect Continuous. So, when do we use this progressive form of the present perfect? We use the continuous form when:

• The action that started in the past still continues. Example: I have been learning French for two years (and I will continue doing it)
• We want to put an emphasis on the repetitive or temporary nature of an action. The focus is on the duration of the action. Examples: He has been knocking on the door for 5 minutes! (repetition). Sara has been living in a friend´s flat (temporarily) 

As a kind of conclusion about both verb forms we could state that: 

• Present Perfect simple is about the completion of an action, the result whereas the Present Perfect Continuous is about the duration of an action that may have finished or not. Compare: 
 A: I have run the marathon!  vs B: I have been running for 5 hours! 

• Present Perfect Continuous is normally used with action verbs and the Present Perfect Simple is normally used with both action and non action verbs. Some verbs can be both action and non action verbs depending on their meaning. Compare: I have been thinking about going to Italy next summer vs *I have been thinking that I don´t like war. (In the first example, "think" is used as an action verb whereas in the second example it is used as a non action verb)

Now, what have you been doing these days? Have you been busy? Have a nice weekend!