Past Perfect Continuous Tense
How do we make the Past Perfect Continuous Tense?
The structure of the past perfect continuous tense is:
| subject |
+ |
auxiliary
verb HAVE |
+ |
auxiliary
verb BE |
+ |
main
verb |
| |
conjugated in simple past
tense |
|
past participle |
|
present participle |
| had |
been |
base + ing |
For negative sentences in the past perfect continuous tense, we
insert not after the first auxiliary verb. For question sentences, we
exchange the subject and first auxiliary verb. Look at these
example sentences with the past perfect continuous tense:
| |
subject |
auxiliary verb |
|
auxiliary verb |
main verb |
|
| + |
I |
had |
|
been |
working. |
|
| + |
You |
had |
|
been |
playing |
tennis. |
| - |
It |
had |
not |
been |
working |
well. |
| - |
We |
had |
not |
been |
expecting |
her. |
| ? |
Had |
you |
|
been |
drinking? |
|
| ? |
Had |
they |
|
been |
waiting |
long? |
When speaking with the past perfect continuous tense, we often
contract the subject and first auxiliary verb:
| I had been |
I'd been |
| you had been |
you'd been |
he had
she had been
it had been |
he'd been
she'd been
it'd been |
| we had been |
we'd been |
| they had been |
they'd been |
How do we use the Past Perfect Continuous Tense?
The past perfect continuous tense is like the past perfect tense,
but it expresses longer actions in the past before another action in the
past. For example:
- Ram started waiting at 9am. I arrived at 11am. When I arrived,
Ram had been waiting for two hours.
| Ram had been waiting for two
hours when I arrived. |
| past |
present |
future |
| Ram starts waiting in past at 9am. |
|
|
| 9 |
|
11 |
|
 |
|
|
| I arrive in past at 11am. |
|
|
Here are some more examples:
- John was very tired. He had been running.
- I could smell cigarettes. Somebody had been
smoking.
- Suddenly, my car broke down. I was not surprised. It had
not been running well for a long time.
- Had the pilot been drinking before the
crash?
You can sometimes think of the past perfect continuous tense like
the present perfect continuous tense, but instead of the time being now
the time is past.
| past perfect continuous tense |
|
present perfect continuous tense |
had |
been
|
doing |
>>>> | |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
have |
been
|
doing |
>>>> | |
|
|
|
|
| past |
now |
future |
|
past |
now |
future |
For example, imagine that you meet Ram at 11am. Ram says to
you:
- "I am angry. I have been waiting for two
hours."
Later, you tell your friends:
- "Ram was angry. He had been waiting for two
hours."
|
