Modal Perfect Continuous: Criticism vs Speculation (C2)

There were three angry messages from your boss while you were scrolling TikTok — you ___ to the project all afternoon.

He turned up with mud on his knees, his hands and his shoes — he ___ in the back garden again.

The dash-cam footage shows the driver ___ at his phone while merging onto a busy motorway slip-road.

The lawn is freshly striped from one end to the other, and his t-shirt is soaked with sweat — he ___ all afternoon.

Visitors waited in reception for the entire lunch hour with nobody to help them — the cover staff ___ the desk instead of stepping out for coffee.

She answered the door with her hair pinned up, flour on her cheek and an apron tied loosely round her — she ___ when the bell went.

You ___ on social media when you were supposed to be supervising the children in the pool.

By the time we arrived at midday, every single shelf had already been emptied into labelled boxes — they ___ since the early hours.

At nine o'clock on a school night, my teenager ___ for tomorrow's exam, not raiding the kitchen and playing Fortnite.

His voice was hoarse and the studio door had been closed since noon — he ___ vocals all day.

During the fire drill, the new apprentice ___ in the corner with a friend instead of moving to the assembly point.

The kettle was still warm and there were two half-empty mugs on the table — they ___ in the kitchen just before we walked in.

While I was off sick, the contracted cleaners ___ the offices every evening instead of stopping for week-long unauthorised breaks.

Frantic emails came in at 1, 2 and 3 a.m., and the engineering office lights stayed on past dawn — the on-call team ___ on the outage all night.

You ___ heavy machinery while taking that medication — the warning on the label is in bright red for a reason.