Question

Complete the dialogue by choosing the correct option to fill in the blank-
Mother: Son, you _____ (are working since/have been working since) morning. Perhaps it's time you took some rest.
Son: Mom, I _________ (am not as tired/was not as tired) as you think. But since you say so, I will _________ (took some rest/take some rest).
a ) Are working since; am not as tired
b) Are working since; was not as tired
c) Have been working since; am not as tired
d) Have been working since; was not as tired

Answer 1

Hint: We use the present perfect continuous tense to indicate actions that began in the past and are still continuing.

Complete answer::
As given in the hint, the present perfect continuous tense is formed with the help of two auxiliary verbs that are joined together with the main verb.
Formation- Have/has + been + continuous form of the verb.
Example- She has been eating this bread since morning. Here, we can understand that X had begun eating the bread in the past and is still continuing the action.
Now, let’s look at the given question-
We know that the son began working in the morning and is still working. Hence, we will use the present perfect continuous tense form of the verb.
In the second blank; We can understand that the son tells his mother that he is not as tired as she thinks. Here, we are indicating an action that is happening in the present. Hence, we will use the simple present tense form of the verb.

Let’s examine the given options-
>Are working since; am not as tired- We cannot use ‘are working since’ as it is in the present continuous tense form, which is used to indicate an action that is taking place right now. Hence, it is an incorrect option.
>Are working since; was not as tired- We cannot use ‘are working since’ as it is in the present continuous tense form, which is used to indicate an action that is taking place right now. Also, ‘was not as tired’ is in the past tense form of the verb. Hence, it is an incorrect option.
>Have been working since; am not as tired- As explained above, we will use the present perfect continuous tense in the first blank and simple present tense in the second blank. Hence, it is the correct option.
>Have been working since; was not as tired- We cannot use ‘was not as tired’ as we are indicating an action that is taking place in the present. Hence, it is an incorrect option.

The correct answer is Option ‘c’.

Note: The present perfect continuous tense can also be used to indicate an action that began in the past and ended recently in the present.