Present Perfect Simple or Continuous?

As we have learned from our book, Citizen Z B1:

1. The present perfect continuous is formed with the present tense of have + been + the ing form of the verb.

I've been reading since breakfast

Have you been sitting here all day?

2. To talk about activities which started in the past and are still continuing now.

She's been running for an hour. (=she started running an hour ago, and she is still running)

3. To talk about actions with a result in the present. These actions may or may not be complete.

I'm tired because I've been working.

Jak's feeling ill because he hasn't been eating well.

4. To talk about actions which began in the past and continue to the present, but perhaps we are not doing the action at the time of speaking.

We've been studying Spanish for six months. (=We started studying six months ago, and we are still studying, but we're not studying at this exact moment.)

To sum up, Present Perfect Continuous is used to express:

• unfinished actions: I've been practising the piano since 10 am.
• how long we have been doing an action: I've been learning the piano for two years.
• finished activities with a result in the present: I've been playing the piano all day and I'm tired now.

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