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

Review about Past Continuous click here

Review about Past Perfect click here

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.

Learn more about state verb and action verb click here

↷ 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.

Learn about gone to or been to click here