Past Perfect Continuous
Past Perfect Continuous
The past perfect continuous tense describes that an action
that begun in the past continued up until another time in the past.
In simple words the past (express longer action or in
continuous form) of the simple past is called past perfect continuous.
Note that continuous tenses are also
called progressive tenses.
So the Past Perfect Continuous tense
is sometimes called the Past Perfect
Progressive tense.
RECOMMENDATION
FORMULA /
STRUCTURE
Subject + Had + BEEN + Verb [fourth form (an-ing)]
Fourth form of verb is called Present Participle form and an –ing form.
Singular Subject = had
|
Plural subject = had
|
I = had
|
BASIC LEVEL
EXAMPLES
[‘d = had]
→ I’d been playing cricket
for three hours when my father arrived. [I’d = I had]
→ We had
been playing cricket since 2 o’clock when our father arrived.
→ You had
been playing cricket.
→ He’d
been playing cricket. [He’d = He had]
→ She had
been playing cricket.
→ It had
been raining for three hours.
→ They had
been playing cricket since 2 o’clock.
→ Yaqoob had been playing cricket.
I had = I’d
|
We had = We’d
|
You had = You’d
|
He had = He’d
|
She had = She’d
|
It had = It’d
|
They had = They’d
|
NEGATIVE EXAMPLES
For negative we use [had not = hadn’t]
→ I had not been
playing cricket.
OR I hadn’t been playing
cricket.
→ Yaqoob had not
been reading a book.
OR Yaqoob hadn’t been
reading a book.
→ You had not
been watching TV.
OR You hadn’t been watching
TV.
INTERROGATIVE / QUESTION
For interrogative we use [had]
→ Had Yaqoob been reading
a book?
→ Had Yaqoob not been reading
a book?
OR Hadn’t Yaqboob been reading a
book?
→ Had you been watching
TV?
→ Had you not been watching
TV?
OR Hadn’t you been
watching TV?
INTERMEDIATE LEVEL
(i) Read these examples:
The match started at 8 am. Our college head arrived at 10 am.
↷ The match had
been playing for two hours when our head arrived.
↷ The match had
been playing since 8 am when our head arrived.
↷ He had been working at
the company for seven years when he got the promotion.
↷ His bike broke down. He was not
surprised. It had not been running well for a
long time.
Past Perfect Continuous
|
Past Perfect
|
↷ The doctor felt tired because he had
been operating all day.
|
↷ The doctor felt pleased because he had
done two operations.
|
↷ I found my mobile phone. I had been searching it for
ages.
|
↷ I finally bought a new mobile phone. I had
searched the old one.
|
We normally use the continuous with a phrase saying how
long.
|
We normally use the simple form with a phrase saying how much/many.
|
↷ When the factory went bankrupt, it had
been losing money for three weeks.
|
↷ When the factory went bankrupt, it had
lost over a million dollar.
|
(ii) We do not normally use the past perfect continuous for states. We also use the past perfect for states.
↷ He had known the situation for two
years before he moved.
NOT He had been knowing the situation for two years before
he moved.
↷ The patient had seemed unwell for some time before
he passed away.
NOT The patient
had been seeming unwell for some time before he passed away.
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