1. Introduction
The past perfect continuous is very similar to the present perfect continuous.
It is constructed by using: subject + had been + present participle (-ing)
Use the past perfect continuous to talk about something that had been going on for some time before something else happened. There are usually two separate things that happen in a past perfect continuous statement.
2. Forming the past perfect
The past perfect continuous is composed of two elements – the past perfect of the verb to be (=had been) + the present participle (base+ing).
Subject | had been | verb + ing |
---|---|---|
I | had been | walking |
Affirmative | ||
She | had been | trying |
Negative | ||
She | hadn’t been | sleeping |
Interrogative | ||
Had you | been | eating? |
Interrogative negative | ||
Hadn’t they | been | living? |
3. Examples
- Had you been waiting long before the bus arrived?
- We had been trying to open the door for five minutes when Jane found her key.
- It had been raining hard for several hours and the streets were very wet.
To sleep, past perfect continuous
Affirmative | Negative | Interrogative |
---|---|---|
I had been sleeping | I hadn’t been sleeping | Had I been sleeping? |
You had been sleeping | You hadn’t been sleeping | Had you been sleeping? |
She had been sleeping | She hadn’t been buying | Had she been sleeping? |
We had been sleeping | We hadn’t been sleeping | Had we been sleeping? |
They had been sleeping | They hadn’t been sleeping | Had they been sleeping? |
51520cookie-checkPast tense 4 – Past perfect continuous