Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Past Perfect Continuous Tense 

 Definition:

            Past perfect continuous tense speaks about the action that began in past and continued up to some point of time in past.

Structure:

Subject + had been + verb with -ing 

Affirmative statement:

            In the Affirmative statement, we have to use "has been" and present participle (verb+ing) after the subject. 

Examples: 

            When her father came home, she had been cleaning the home for hours 

            I ate more food because I had been starving for food 

                                           Photo by Genaro Servín from Pexels

                                            

The ground floor was covered with water. It had been raining for several hours 

            

Negative statement:

            In the Negative statement, we have to use "not" in-between had and been. 

Examples:

            When her father came home, she had not been cleaning the home for hours

            I didn't eat more food because I had not been starving for food  

            The ground floor was not covered with water. It had not been raining for several hours     

Interrogative Statement:

            In the Interrogative Statement, we place "had" before the subject and after the subject, we have to place "been+ verb with -ing"

Examples:

            Had she been working for an hour before he left?

            Had they been playing for an hour when the teacher shouted?       

Where we want to use the Past Perfect Continuous tense?

•  It is used to express an action that began in past and continuous up at some point of speaking in the past. 

Examples:

                                                         Photo by Vlad Chețan from Pexels

                                 He had not been working for a full day, so he was energetic 

          

           The workers had been achieving the awards before the boss arrived 

            He had been talking for over a night before James arrived 

     

• There should be a time expression for the past perfect continuous tense

Examples:

            They had been playing cricket for a month 

            CSK had been playing for Chennai for more than a year

                                                        Photo by Ksenia Chernaya from Pexels

She had been watching a movie for more than an hour before there was a current cut 

            

Click below to test your level in the past perfect continuous tense  

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