The Past Perfect Continuous Tense

The Past Perfect Continuous Tense is used:

to talk about actions which had been in progress before or up to the time of another past action

I had been walking for about half an hour when it suddenly started to rain.

to describe a repeated action

He'd been phoning every night for a month.

We use the following time expressions with the Past Perfect Continuous Tense

already	We had already been working on the project for two weeks when you joined the team.
for (a long time)	Emma and Jill suddenly realized that they had been talking on the phone for two hours.
since	She had a headache because she had been studying hard without stopping since 2.30.

NOTE:

The Past Perfect Continuous Tense is not used with verbs which are not used in the continuous form except with want and wish.

The boy was delighted with his new knife. He had been wanting one for a long time.

Positive form

had ('d) been Participle I (Verb + -ing)

I You He/She/It	had (‘d) been cooking on the stove.
We You They	had (‘d) been cooking on the stove.

Exercise 10. Complete the sentences using the Past Perfect Continuous of the verbs in brackets.

Example: Mr Brown had been working (work) for 45 years when he finally retired in 1970.

1. The FBI___(look) for the criminal for three years before they caught him.

2. When Sam got home, his hair was still wet because he___(swim).

3. Joe ___ (already/think) about changing his job when he got the offer.

4. They didn't like the house, even though they___ (live) there for years.

5. We___(travel) for about four hours when I realized that something was wrong with one of the tyres.

Negative form

I You He/She/It We You They

had not(hadn’t) been working all night.

Exercise 11. Complete the sentences with the negative form of the verbs in brackets. Use the Past Perfect Continuous Tense.

Example: We hadn't been waiting (not/wait) for her for a long time. She arrived in time.

1. “I'm really sorry I was so late last night.” - “That’s OK. We___(not/wait)”.

2. I ___(not/feel) well for weeks before I finally went to see the doctor.

3. When Frank got home, he found that his children ___ (not/do) their homework.

4. He___(not/try) to find a good job for quite a long time.

General question

Had

I You He/She/It We You They

been doing anything before it all happened? - Yes/No,

I You He/She/It We You They

had(n’t)

Exercise 12. Make these sentences into general questions.

Example: Glen had been driving for an hour when his car broke down.

Had Glen been driving for an hour when his car broke down?

1. We'd been waiting for an hour when our train finally arrived.

2. Henry had been playing football for over ten years when he gave it up in 1995.

3. They'd been living in London for fifteen years when they moved to Paris last year.

4. She'd been standing there for nearly half an hour when she realized she was at the wrong bus-stop.