Past Perfect Continuous
When do we use the Past Perfect Continuous?
1. to explain how long something had been happening before another past action
If we talk about the actions in the order they happened then we would use the Past Simple.
- I waited for Susan and she arrived
but the Past Simple Continuous allows the speaker to stress the duration of the waiting.
- I had been waiting for Susan for 2 hours when she arrived.
2. to explain the cause of something in the past
To show that there is a connection between two past event, the earlier of which had stopped we do this with the Past Perfect Continuous
- The pavement was wet, it had been raining.
3. to show something started in the past and continued up to another action in the past.
The past perfect continuous tells us ‘how long’, just like the present perfect continuous, but this time the action continues up to a point in the past rather than to the present.
- I was thirsty because I had been working in the sun all day.
4. as part of the 3rd conditional
To talk about unreal or imaginary things in the past.
- If I had been listening I would have heard what the teacher said.
5. Signal words
- already
- before
- for
- just
- never
- not yet
- once
- until that day
- when
6. Form
had + been + infinitive + ing
7. Examples
7.1. Affirmative sentences in the Past Perfect Continuous
Long forms | Contracted forms |
---|---|
I had been playing football. | I‘d been playing football. |
You had been playing football. | You‘d been playing football. |
He had been playing football. | He’d been playing football. |
7.2. Negative sentences in the Past Perfect Continuous
Long forms | Contracted forms |
---|---|
I had not been playing football. | I‘d not been playing football. |
I hadn’t been playing football. | |
You had not been playing football. | You‘d not been playing football. |
You hadn’t been playing football. | |
He had not been playing football | He‘d not been playing football. |
He hadn’t been playing football. |
7.3. Questions in the Past Perfect Continuous
Long forms | Contracted forms |
---|---|
Had I been playing football? | There are no contracted forms. |
Had you been playing football? | |
Had he been playing football? |
Explanations
- Past Perfect Continuous – Overview
- Diagram of the Past Perfect Continuous
- Form of the Past Perfect Continuous
- BE, DO & HAVE in the Past Perfect Continuous
- Questions in the Past Perfect Continuous
- Signal Words for the Past Perfect Continuous
- Short Forms and Long Forms in the Past Perfect Continuous
- Spelling of Verbs in the Past Perfect Continuous