Present Continuous
Present Simple
Present Perfect Continuous
Present Perfect
Past Simple
Past Perfect
Past Perfect Continuous
Future Simple
Future Continuous
Future Perfect
Future Perfect Continuous
Past Perfect Continuous
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The Past Perfect Continuous (Progressive) is very similar to the Past Perfect. However, while using this tense, we focus on the duration of an activity rather than the result of it.
Use
- Duration of a past action up to a certain point in the past
- Third conditional sentences (a) and reported speech (b)
Form
Positive sentences:
| Subject | + | Auxiliary verb | + | Auxiliary verb | + | Verb + ing |
| I/a dog etc. | had | been | eating/swimming, etc. |
I had been running for an hour when it started raining. (Use 1)
Mary said she had never been swimming so much in one day. (Use 2b)
Kathy put on weight because she had been eating too much sugar (Use 1)
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When I saw him I knew that he had been training. (Use 1)
Questions (interrogative sentences):
| Auxiliary verb | + | Subject | + | Auxiliary verb | + | Verb + ing |
| Had | I/a dog etc. | been | eating/swimming, etc. |
For how many hours had Fred been painting the house when the ladder fell? (Use 1)
How long had the player been playing before he scored? (Use 1)
Negative sentences:
| Subject | + | Auxiliary verb + not | + | Auxiliary verb | + | Verb + ing |
| I/a dog /Mary, etc. | hadn't | been | going/swimming, etc. |
He said he wasn't tired because he hadn't been preparing his car. (Use 2b)
If it hadn't been raining, we would have played football. (Use 2a)
Had I not been studying all night, I would have problems with this test now. (Use 2a)
Test your understanding
Past Perfect Continuous Exercise
Past Perfect Continuous 1 (forming; positive sentences)
Past Perfect Continuous 2 (forming; negative)
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