The Past Perfect Progressive, as well as the Past Perfect Continuous, is used for actions that were in progress up to a certain time in the past and emphasize this process rather than completion. This tense is similar to , but is used to express past actions. You will receive tips on when to use the past perfect continuous tense in English sentences. Russian transcription [past perfect continuus/progressive] – English transcription.
Before you start studying, read a short text. Try to translate the text in writing and at the same time learn new words that you have not yet encountered.
Jerrold had been practicing fencing for about 15 years. Many years ago, his father won the World Championship. He taught Jerrold how to fence when Jerrold was just 8 years old. Jerrold had been practicing fencing ever since. He had been training in a small gym for many years.
Last night, Jerrold took part in the fencing tournament. He had been hoping to win this tournament since he first saw fencing on television 11 years ago. He competed against many fencers for the trophy. He won the fight with the score 15 to 13. Everyone cheered and clapped for Jerrold.
Jerrold knew he was great because he had been going in for fencing for a long time.
Past Perfect Continuous rules of education
In this section we will show you how the Past Perfect Continuous is formed.
Sentences in this tense are constructed as follows: as usual, the subject comes first, after follows (past tense had), after the auxiliary, follows (past participle - been) and Participle I.
Formula Past Perfect Continuous: subject + had + been + present participle (-ing ending).
Cases of using Past Perfect Continuous
At the very beginning, it will of course be difficult to know when to use the past perfect continuous tense. But everything has its time! After reading the article to the end, you will understand that not everything is as complicated as it seems. Let's get started!
1. Description of actions and situations
The first thing we will look at is that the Past Perfect Continuous tense in English used to describe actions or situations that occurred at a certain time in the past or before another past event.
Example:
— We had been driving for five hours when the storm broke out - We had been driving for five hours when the storm broke.
— We had been living in the same flat for thirty years before we decided to move - We lived in the same apartment for thirty years before we decided to move.
—Jerrold had been practicing fencing for about 15 years – Jerrold has been fencing for 15 years.
- We often use the Past Perfect Progressive with . The past continuous perfect tense is always used for an action that happened or started earlier.
Let's look at examples :
—Ryan had been texting her long before they met“Ryan corresponded with her for a long time before they met.
- I had a terrible headache because I had been reading all day – I had a terrible headache because I had been reading all day.
Events do not necessarily have to appear in a sentence in the order in which they occurred. The earlier event may become the second.
Example:
— Before we decided to move, we had been living in the same flat for thirty years. (The earlier event appears later in the sentence.)
— We had been living in the same flat for thirty years before we decided to move. (The earlier event appears first in the sentence.)
2. Actions in the past with a certain duration and this action has a visible result in the past
Example:
— He was tired. He had been swimming for hours – He was tired. He swam for several hours.
— Dad was angry. He had been arguing with Daisy – Dad was angry. He was arguing with Daisy.
—David had been skiing all day. He was exhausted – David had been skiing all day. He was exhausted.
3. Past Perfect Continuous is the equivalent
Example:
— I am going to the swimming pool. My back has been aching for three days – I’m going to the pool. My back has been hurting for three days now. ().
— I went to the swimming pool. My back had been aching for three days – I went to the pool. My back hurt for three days. (Past Perfect Continuous).
—She has been trying to find a job in Hollywood for years – For many years she has been trying to find a job in Hollywood.
—She had been trying to find a job in Hollywood for years – For many years she tried to find a job in Hollywood.
4. An action interrupts another action.
We use the past perfect continuous tense to show that something started in the past and continued until another action stopped it.
Example:
— We had been watching the game when the lights went off – We were watching the game and the lights went out.
- I had been training for ten minutes when my boyfriend knocked on the door – I had been training for ten minutes when my boyfriend knocked on the door.
- Note:
Native speakers rarely use the past perfect continuous tense in colloquial speech. You may have noticed that this tense appears most often in written language. Therefore, English speakers prefer to use simpler tenses.
Example:
- I had been training for ten minutes when my boyfriend was knocked on the door.
- I was training when my boyfriend was knocked on the door.
Marker words Past Perfect Continuous
Signal words help you recognize tense in a sentence. Helping words:
For, since, all morning, all day, all my life, all day long, the whole day
The tense markers for the past perfect continuous tense are the same as for . The only difference is that the past perfect continuous marker words refer to the past, not the present.
Example sentences with words satellites:
— The ship had been sailing for two weeks – The ship sailed for two weeks.
— I had been going in for fencing since 2001 – I have been fencing since 2001.
— My mother needed a break because she had been working all morning— My mother needed a break because she had been working all morning.
Past Perfect Continuous sentence forms
To conjugate the past perfect continuous tense in English grammar, we need Helping Verbs (auxiliary verbs) to have and to be: had + been + present participle (-ing form). The tables below provide rules and examples of negative, affirmative and interrogative sentences in the past perfect progressive.
Affirmative form Past Perfect Continuous (Affirmative sentences)
| Who? Who? | Form of verb | Examples |
| I | had + been + verb + ing | I had been typing the whole morning |
| He/She/It | had + been + verb + ing | He had been smoking all his life She had been texting all day It had been waiting for an hour |
| You | had + been + verb + ing | You had been looking after them since then |
| We | had + been + verb + ing | We had been talking for two hours |
| They | had + been + verb + ing | They had been feeding the cats |
Shortened form of affirmative sentences:
— He’d been feeling unwell for months.
Negative form Past Perfect Continuous (Negative sentences)
In negations there is a negative particle not is placed after the auxiliary verb had.
| Who? Who? | Form of verb | Examples |
| I | I had not been typin g all day | |
| He/She/It | had + not + been + verb + ing | He had not been smoking all his life She had not been texting all night It had not been crying |
| You | had + not + been + verb + ing | You had not been looking after them |
| We | had + not + been + verb + ing | We had not been talking |
| They | had + not + been + verb + ing | They had not been feeding the cats |
Short form of negative sentences:
- I hadn't been reading.
Interrogative form Past Perfect Continuous (Interrogative sentences)
As you already know, in questions the auxiliary verb comes first.
| Verb to have | Who? Who? | Form of verb | Examples |
| Had | I | verb + ing | Had I been cycling? |
| Had | He/She/It | verb + ing | Had he been smoking? Had she been texting? Had it been crying? |
| Had | You | verb + ing | Had you been looking after them? |
| Had | We | verb + ing | Had we been feeding the cats? |
| Had | They | verb + ing | Had they been talking? |
Short interrogative-negative form:
— Had she not been crying?
— Hadn't has she been crying?
The verb "Been" in the Past Perfect Progressive is sometimes added to short answers.
Example: Yes, I had been.
Difference between Past Perfect and Past Perfect Continuous
Let's start with the fact that these two English tenses are the most difficult of the rest of the past tenses. differs from the Past Perfect Continuous in that the past perfect tense is used for actions that were completed in the past, while the past perfect continuous tense can be used for actions that were in progress in the past. This is the main difference between these two times.
Anyway, let's look at the detailed difference between and Past Perfect Continuous.
For actions that continue for a long time (walk, run, sleep, work etc.), Past Perf is often used. Cont.
Example:
had worked all night – .
— Sarah felt exhausted because she had been working all day - Past Perfect Continuous.
As we wrote above, it is used when the action was completed in the past. So, if this action was completed first, we use the past perfect tense.
Example:
— When I opened the refrigerator, I found that my sister Jane had drunk all the milk – When I opened the refrigerator, I discovered that my sister Jane had drunk all the milk. (Early action – had drunk).
But if the first action was not completed, then we use the Past Perfect Continuous.
Example:
— My sister and I had been dancing in the club for hours when we suddenly realized that it was late - My sister and I danced for hours in the club when we suddenly realized that it was late.
Here we focus on the process (how long the action lasted) rather than on its final result.
Another time we use it is when we say how many times something happened before a certain point in the past.
—She had sung a song ten times - She sang the song ten times.
General Table The Past Perfect Continuous Tense
| Types of offers | PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS |
| Affirmative sentence | S + had + been + V-in g S– subject |
| Negative sentence | S + had + not + been + V-ing S– subject |
| Interrogative sentence (general question) | Had + S + been + V-ing S– subject |
| Special question | WH + had + S + been + V-ing S– subject W.H.-why, where, when etc. |
Exercises and answers on the topic Past Perfect Continuous
You have seen examples of sentences of the past perfect continuous tense, now we suggest you consolidate the material you have covered by doing exercises.
Exercise 1. Put the verb into the appropriate form.
1. When my husband got to the beach I (lie) in the sun for three hours.
2. My grandparents (plant) trees all day.
3. When I got there, they (water) flowers for hours.
4. The Titanic (lie) on the sea bed for 70 years when they found it.
5. He was drunk. He (drink) whiskey.
6. Paul’s head ached because he (sit) in the sun.
8. I was out of breath. I (run) for hours.
9. My brother had a black eye because he (fight).
10. Luke (practise) boxing since he was seven years old.
Answers. Answers to the exercise:
1. had been lying
2.had been planting
3. had been watering
4. had been lying
5. had been drinking
6. had been sitting
7. had been eating
8. had been running
9. had been fighting
10. had been practicing
Exercise 2. Choose a suitable time.
1. By the time I finished my language course, I ___ in Ireland for six years.
a) had been b) had been being
2. My parents ___to find the blanket all evening.
a) had tried b) had been trying
3. You ___a terrible mistake.
a) had made b) had been made
4. Dad brought something that we___.
a) hadn’t been asking b) hadn’t asked
5.Someone___ all the windows are open.
a) had been leaving b) had left
Answers. Answers to the exercise:
1. a
2.b
3. a
4.b
5. b
Exercise 3. Put the verb in Past Perf. Cont. or Past Perfect
1. Someone (cook) and (burn) the meal.
2. I (prepare) the party for five hours.
3. The kids (play) in the yard when it began to rain.
4. My mother (be) in hospital for the past three weeks.
5. I (practise) yoga since 2014.
6. My husband was tired. He (drive) all day.
7. What (you/do) when you wrote a letter?
8. It (rain) for hours and all the curtains (get) wet.
9. Her eyes are red. She (read) for about two hours.
10. I (already/phone) his mother when he came home.
Answers. Answers to the exercise:
1. had been cooking, had burned
2. had been preparing
3. had been playing
4. had been
5. had been practicing
6. had been driving
7. had you been doing
8. had been raining, had got
9. had been reading
10. I had already phoned
Time Past Perf. Cont. is rare in English, but you still need to know how and where to use this tense is not entirely logical for Russian minds, but we are sure that you did it.
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When it comes to forms of the Perfect Continuous category, it is important to remember one thing: for any tense related to this grammatical construction, all attention is paid not only to the completion of a specific event, but also to the duration during which it occurred, i.e., the time period is also relevant here.
General time information
The Past Perfect Continuous Tense displays just such a case, but unlike a similar one, here attention is paid to a continued action, but not to the present, but to the past moment, when a particular situation occurs up to a certain point in the Past. This form is used quite often, and examples of such tenses include the following:
· They had been talking for a few minutes when he raised his head. (When he raised his head, they had been talking for several minutes)
· She said the very things her husband had been saying for so long. (She said exactly the things her husband had been saying for so long)
· The woman came from under the tree where she had been waiting. (The woman came out from under the tree under which she had been waiting
From such examples it becomes clear that such time indicates a certain process that either lasted until a certain point and ended, or can continue after it. The use of Past Perfect Continuous will be described in more detail below, but for now it is necessary to understand how this form is formed and what structural features it has.
Formation Past Perfect Continuous
Due to the fact that the basis of the Past Perfect Continuous is both a completed and a long action, this tense has both perfect features and properties inherent in continuous forms, as, for example, this is visible even in education. The first place is occupied by the auxiliary verb had. He is alone here, unlike the Present Perfect Continuous. Next, just like the present tense, follows, which is in the form Participle II and looks like been (or, to make it easier, the third form). The construction ends with a verb in Participle I, but this is also simplified and called simply a verb ending in –ing.
General scheme of Past Perfect Continuous
Summarizing all of the above, we can create a simple formula for this time, which should be used as a guide when constructing sentences:
Had + been + V(–ing)
Interrogative sentences
The formation of interrogative sentences here is quite logical. As in any tense that contains an auxiliary verb (y is did, y is have and has, etc.), had in this case will come first, making it specific to English grammar reverse order words characteristic of questions. This should be followed by the subject, expressed, as a rule, by a personal pronoun or noun, and after it should be the rest of the tense construction with the minor members of the sentence.
For the Past Perfect Continuous, examples of question sentences could be as follows:
· You were at the airport at 2. Had she been waiting long? (You were at the airport at 2 o'clock. Did she wait long?)
· Had you been sleeping for the whole day before I came? (Did you sleep all day before I came?)
Features of negation in the Past Perfect Continuous
As for negative sentences, for the Past Perfect Continuous the rules and norms of grammar prohibit its use. Here the explanation comes into force, indicating that there was no such thing as a long-term effect. But if, for example, it is possible to form a negative form with the Past Continuous, then in the case of the perfect continuous tense this cannot be done. In this case, the standard Perfect Past should be used:
· She said she hadn’t waited for a long time. (She said she didn't wait very long)
· When I saw him, he hadn’t slept for 2 days already. (When I saw him, I hadn’t slept for 2 days)
Types of Past Perfect Continuous and usage cases
Before talking about ways to use this form, it should be noted that the Past Perfect Continuous has two varieties (the same as the Present) - Inclusive and Exclusive. Therefore, it would be more correct to describe the features of using Perfect Continuus pastes of each of these two types.
Past Perfect Continuous Inclusive
The Past Perfect Continuous Inclusive time has one explanation, which is classic in principle for this entire temporal form as a whole: the action here lasts until a specific point in the past and, possibly, will continue after.
The standard and frequently used markers in this case are two main prepositions: for and since. The first is necessary in order to show the period, the period of how long the action has already been long, and the second is used for the so-called initial, or starting point, that is, to display the event from which the situation began:
· I had been fixing the roof for 3 hours when they came – I was fixing the roof for three hours when they came
· My wife had been washing windows since early morning when suddenly the rain started – My wife had been washing windows since early morning when suddenly it started raining
Time indicators such as for and since certainly reflect how long the action lasts, while the period of its duration can be any - for 2 months, since yesterday, for three years, since 2007, etc.
Additional features of using the Inclusive form
The Past Perfect Continuous Inclusive form is not typical for the following situations:
1. For verbs that are not used in the Continuous () form:
He said that he had known Mr. Adams for 2 years – He said he knew Mr. Adams for 2 years
2. For sentences with negation (examples are described above).
3. For verbs called non-finite, i.e. those where there is no time limit and the situation can last a very long time - travel, study, work, live, etc.
Note: in the last situation there is an exception: provided that the process is emphasized, and not the fact of the action, then duration is possible and the Past Perfect Progressive is used:
· Jenny said she had worked there for 10 years – Jenny said that she worked there for 10 years (fact)
· Jenny said she had been working there for 10 years – Jenny said that she worked there for 10 years (duration)
Past Perfect Continuous Exclusive
Sentences in this tense are formed in the same way as in the standard Past Perfect Continuous, but with one difference in use: what is illustrated here is not an action that is still lasting until a moment in the past, but was in the process a little earlier, and now at a specific moment the past is the result of this event:
When I saw her eyes I could easily guess she had been crying - When I saw her eyes, I immediately guessed that she was crying
Note: Just like the Present, the Past Perfect Continuous has only the active voice, which we do not use here.
Thus, the Past Perfect Continuous has a lot in common with the present completed and continuous tense, and all the situations of use and the rules of formation described above will help you use this form correctly and not make mistakes with its use.
Past Perfect Continuous- past continuous perfect tense in English. Indicates an action that began in the past, continued for some time and ended or did not end before some event in the past. In more detail, the rules for the formation of the Past Perfect Continuous tense in the affirmative, negative and interrogative sentences, auxiliary words and examples of use are discussed below.
To form an affirmative sentence in the Past Perfect Continuous, you must use the auxiliary verbs had been and a verb ending in -ing. Formula for forming an affirmative sentence:
Noun + had been + verb ending in -ing
The noun and had can be contracted to form “d.” Examples of conversational sentences:
I had been playing football for 2 hours and then I took a shower. — I played football for 2:00, after which I took a shower.
I’d been typing this text for 2 hours and then found it on the Internet. — I typed this text for 2:00, and then found it on the Internet.
Negative sentences in the Past Perfect Continuous are formed in a similar way, with the only difference that after the auxiliary verb had the share not is added. Formula:
Noun + had + not + been + verb ending -ing
The auxiliary verb had and the clause not can merge to form had not. Examples of negative sentences:
I had not been playing football all day before I got home. — I hadn't played football all day before I got home.
They had not been waiting for you for 2 hours before you came. — They weren’t expecting you at 2:00 when you arrived.
Interrogative sentences in the Past Perfect Continuous are formed by moving the auxiliary verb had to the beginning of the sentence. Formula:
Had + noun + been + verb ending in -ing
Examples of interrogative sentences:
Had you been doing your homework for 3 hours before I came? — Did you do your homework 3:00 before you came?
Had it been raining before he arrived at home? — Was it raining before he came home?
Auxiliary words Past Perfect Continuous
When using the Past Perfect Continuous tense, you can use the following auxiliary words (so-called indicator words):
Cases in which the Past Perfect Continuous is used
The main thing when studying any time is to know the cases when its use will come in handy. Below are the rules and cases for using the Past Perfect Continuous in various situations.
Use case I: long-term exposure before an event in the past
Duration Before Something in the Past
The Past Perfect Continuous is used in cases where you need to put emphasis on an action that occurred over a period of time and ended (or did not end) before another event in the past. examples:
They had been talking for over an hour before Tony arrived. They talked for over an hour before Tony arrived.
She had been working at that company for three years when it went out of business. “She worked for the company for three years before it went bankrupt.”
A: How long had you been studying Turkish before you moved to Ankara? — How long did you study Turkish before you left for Ankara?
B: I had not been studying Turkish very long. — I haven’t studied Turkish for too long.
IIuse case: the reason for what is in the past
Cause of Something in the Past
Past Perfect Continuous can also be used in cases where you need to show a cause-and-effect relationship between events in the past. examples:
Jason was tired because he had been jogging. — Jason was tired because he was running.
Sam gained weight because he had been overeating. — Sam gained weight because he overeated.
Betty failed the final test because she had not been attending class. — Betty failed the final test because she was not present in class.
English grammar offers four tenses for expressing past actions - Past Simple, Past Continuous, Past Perfect and Past Perfect Progressive. We will talk in more detail below about when the Past Perfect Continuous is used and how the Past Perfect Continuous is formed.
Past Perfect Continuous rules and examples
There are three tenses in English: Past (past), Present (present) and Future (future). But timing is only half the battle. You also need to think about the category - the simplicity of the action (Simple), its duration (Continuous) or completeness (Perfect).
We understood that he had been working hard all these years - We understood that he worked hard all these years.
From this example it is quite clear that we are talking about the past - Past, both in the first part of the sentence and in the second. Next we move on to the category. The first verb understood (understood) “behaves” usually, everyday, simply (Simple), and the second one is not so simple. On the one hand, the action of the verb had been working began and lasted for some time (Continuous), and on the other hand, it came to an end and ended (Perfect).
Total - the predicate understood (understood) is used in the Past Simple (Simple Past), and the predicate had been working (worked) - in the Past Perfect Continuous (Past Perfect Continuous).
The Past Perfect Continuous tense, as a rule, is not considered in the first, initial stages of learning English.
Use
This time has a rather limited range of tasks, which largely repeats the functions of the Present Perfect Continuous (Present Perfect Continuous), but only in the past:
- The Past Perfect Continuous is used to describe an action that began in the past and continued until some point in the past. Another action or special words are used to indicate this moment (by the time (by the time), after (after), since (since), before (before), for (during):
She had been crying for an hour before we came - She cried for an hour before we came.
- Past Perfect Continuous denotes an action that began and lasted a certain time in the past, and the result, the result of this action is clearly traceable in the past:
In cases where there is a need to specifically note the duration of an action in the past, but the predicate is expressed by a state verb, the Past Perfect Continuous is not used. Instead of this tense, the Past Perfect is used:
He had loved her inner world for all his life - He loved her inner world all his life.
Formation of the affirmative form
An auxiliary verb is used to form the affirmative form Past Perfect Continuous to be, used in the temporary form Past Perfect (Past Perfect) - had been, and the main verb ending - ing. This can be represented as a formula “subjects + had been + verb + -ing” ;:
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I had been using (I used), you had been flying (you flew), they had been building (they built).
Negative and interrogative forms
A negative particle is used to express negation not (not) which is placed between verbs had And been: subjects + had not been + verb + -ing
(I had not been using (I did not use), you had not been flying (you did not fly), they had not been building (they did not build).
In questions, the word order is direct, characteristic of English sentences, is violated. The auxiliary verb comes first had comes first, followed by subjects, been and main verb: Had + subjects + been + verb + -ing ?
(Had I been using? (have I used?), Had you been flying? (have you flown?), Had they been building (have they built?).
What have we learned?
Using example sentences, today we looked at a new tense - Past Perfect Continuous. It is translated into Russian as Past Perfect Continuous, and denotes an action that began in the past and lasts for a certain time in the past. It is impossible to use it independently. It always requires a context - another action or moment.
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Some tenses in English are not used as often as their “comrades”. Usually their use is limited to certain situations, in which sometimes such tenses can even be replaced by other, simpler ones. The list of such times includes the times of the group Perfect Continuous. Perhaps this is one of the least common groups, knowledge of which is still necessary for natural sound and demonstration high level language knowledge. That is why let's look at one of the times of this group, namely the time Past Perfect Continuous(pronounced [past perfect continuus]).
Past Perfect Continuous Tense (also Past Perfect Progressive Tense) or past perfect continuous tense is an English tense used to express actions that lasted up to a certain moment in the past and either ended before that moment or continued during it.
In simple words, the Past Perfect Continuous is used to show that an action occurred in the past, and another action lasted before it. Let's study the rules of formation, forms and uses of this tense.
The Past Perfect Continuous is formed using auxiliary and main verbs. The auxiliary is expressed by the verb to be in (had been). This auxiliary verb does not change in persons or numbers, always remaining unchanged:
| I | had been |
| He | |
| We |
Main verbs are formed using the present participle (Participle I). To form it, you need to add the ending –ing to the verb in the infinitive.
| Infinitive / Infinitive | V+-ing |
| (to) speak | speaking |
| (to) make | making |
| (to) cry | crying |
| (to) act | acting |
| (to) produce | producing |
| (to) promote | promoting |
| (to) imitate | imitating |
| (to) whistle | whistling |
| (to) exaggerate | exaggerating |
Note that:
- When adding an ending to a verb ending in –e, –e is omitted:
- If a word ends in –ie, this ending is replaced with –y:
The rule does not work with endings –w and –x:
2) In American, if the last syllable is stressed:
Accordingly, by connecting both parts, we get the necessary construction for the formation of the Past Perfect Continuous:
Past Perfect Continuous: sentence forms
Once you understand how to form verbs, you need to understand how they can be used in different sentences. Having become familiar with one tense of this group: Past or Perfect Continuous, Present or Future, you can easily form sentence forms for the other two tenses, because they are built according to the same principle.
Affirmative form Past Perfect Continuous
The affirmative form of the Past Perfect Continuous is formed in a standard way: first comes the subject, followed by the auxiliary and main verbs as the predicate, and then the secondary members of the sentence:
The example above, like all subsequent ones, is used in the active voice (Active Voice). Perfect Continuous Passive or passive voice for Perfect Continuous tenses is usually not used. The fact is that such sentences in Passive Voice will sound very “cluttered” and strange, and since the language tends to simplify, you won’t have to use any “had been being doing” in the “passive”.
Negative Past Perfect Continuous
In negative sentences, the negative particle not appears between the parts of the auxiliary verb, but the overall structure remains the same:
Since pronouncing three verbs at once is not entirely convenient, abbreviations are used in speech for both the affirmative and negative forms:
| Full form | Short form | |
| +
statement |
I had been walking. She had been playing. He had been training. It had been shining. |
I'd been walking. She'd been playing. He'd been training. It'd been shining. |
| —
negation |
We had not been collaborating. You had not been asking. They had not been creating. She had not been staring. |
We hadn't been collaborating. You hadn't been asking. They hadn't been creating. She hadn't been staring. |
Question Past Perfect Continuous form
The formation of the interrogative form remains unchanged for almost all types of questions:
- In a general question, the auxiliary verb had comes to the fore:
- In an alternative question, any second member of the sentence for choice and the conjunction or (or) are added to the form above:
- In a special question, the form of a general question is diluted with interrogative words that are placed before the auxiliary verb had:
- Only the dividing question is different from the others. It retains the form of an affirmative or negative sentence, followed by a short question:
Past Perfect Continuous: use
All that remains is to figure out in what cases the Past Perfect Continuous is used in English . Here it is worth paying attention to one funny paradox that the English language has: the fact is that the more complex a topic in English is considered, the easier it is. This happens because difficult times are usually limited to specific situations. Accordingly, there are very few cases of use of such tenses, which means that remembering these cases will not be difficult. Here, in fact, they are:
- The Past Perfect Continuous is used to express actions that lasted up to a certain point in the past. When the moment arrived, the action ended. Often in such cases no marker words are used , and the need to use this time is determined by the context:
| We put the film we had been watching on pause. (We paused the movie we were watching.) |
First there was an action (we were watching a movie) that lasted until a certain point in the past (until we paused it). |
| The whole team had been working very hard; that's why, we could finish the album in time. (The whole team worked very hard so we were able to finish the album on time.) |
At first we were in the process of work. This process continued until a certain point, the moment of completion of work on the album, which indicates that the long-term effect has ended. |
| I felt tired because I had been running 2 miles. (I felt tired because I had run 2 miles.) |
First there was action - he ran. It continued until a certain point - until I got tired. |
Although sometimes the before (before), after (after), till / until (before) pointers are still present:
- Tense is also used to show that an action lasted and continued to last at a certain point in the past. In such cases, sentences may contain indicator words: all day long / my life (all day / all my life), since (since), when (when), as well as time markers by the time (by that time ) and for (during):
| She had been sleeping for about 10 minutes when someone was knocked on the door. (She had been sleeping for about 10 minutes when someone knocked on the door.) |
She was sleeping, that is, she was in the process of carrying out an action at the moment when someone knocked on the door. |
| I had been studying for 3 hours when he finally came to help me. (I had been studying for 3 hours when he finally came to help me.) |
I studied for 3 hours. He came, I was still in the process of studying. |
| By the time he came from work, his wife had been cooking for an hour. (By the time he came home from work, his wife had been cooking for an hour.) |
He came, she is cooking. The preparation began before he arrived. |
| I had been waiting for half an hour at the stop when I saw the bus in the distance. (I had been waiting at the stop for half an hour when I saw a bus in the distance.) |
I was in the middle of the action when the bus started to arrive. |
If the sentences in this case are not used with words indicating how long the action took place, the Past Continuous is used instead of the Past Perfect Continuous:
- It is worth noting that the action in the Past Perfect Continuous can take place during a certain period, but not on an ongoing basis:
- The past continuous tense is also used to express an action, the result of which was seen later in the past. The indicators of time here are precisely the results of the action:
| Everything was covered with snow in the evening. It had been snowing all day long. (In the evening everything was covered with snow. It snowed all day.) |
Why was everything covered in snow? Because before that he walked for a long time. |
| — Did you see that mess in their house? — Yes, Kim said they had been celebrating her win at night. (-Have you seen what a mess their house is? - Yes, Kim said that they celebrated her victory at night.) |
Why was there a mess? Because someone was celebrating at night. |
| - Why was he sleeping when I came to you in the afternoon? — That’s because he’d been editing his new video till the morning. (- Why was he sleeping when I came in the afternoon? — Because he edited his new video until the morning.) |
The action (he was sleeping) happened because of a process that was going on before this action (he was editing). |
- It is worth noting that this tense is often replaced by the Past Perfect, especially in negative sentences:
- In addition, the rules indicate that the Present Perfect Continuous cannot be used with state verbs, since they cannot last. This group includes words indicating emotions, desires, possession, perception and mental activity. When using them, the Past Perfect is always used, even if the Past Perfect Continuous is implied:
| I thought why I had liked him before. | I thought about why I liked him before. |
| She had intended to become a popular singer when the doctor said she had to stop singing due to some health problems. | She intended to become a popular singer when the doctor said she needed to stop singing due to some health problems. |
| I had applied for different jobs till I was invited to an interview at the office of a software company in St. Petersburg. | I applied for various positions until I was invited for an interview at the office of the manufacturing company software in St. Petersburg. |
| Mr. Smith had owned the house till he sold it 2 years ago. | Mr. Smith owned the house until he sold it two years ago. |
In order to fully use the English language, you need to be “friendly” with all tenses, even such rare ones as the Past Perfect Continuous or the Past Perfect Continuous. As you can see, there is nothing complicated in the rules of education of this time. To understand whether it is worth using it, it is enough to use words that indicate that the action is taking place exactly at this time. If initially you confuse this tense with the Past Perfect tense, periodically return to the rules and create examples to reinforce this material.
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