The Past Perfect Continuous is another tense that expresses the "past in the past".
In this lesson we look at the structure and use of the Past Perfect Continuous tense, followed by a quiz to check your understanding.
Note that continuous tenses are also called progressive tenses. So the Past Perfect Continuous tense is sometimes called the Past Perfect Progressive tense.
The structure of the Past Perfect Continuous tense is:
| subject | + | auxiliary have | + | auxiliary be | + | main verb |
| conjugated in Past Simple | past participle | |||||
| had | been | present participle |
The first auxiliary verb (have) is conjugated in the Past Simple, invariable: had
The second auxiliary verb (be) is invariable in past participle form: been
The main verb is invariable in present participle form: -ing
For negative sentences we insert not after the first auxiliary verb.
For question sentences, we exchange the subject and the 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 we use the Past Perfect Continuous in speaking, we often contract the subject and the first auxiliary verb. We also sometimes do this in informal writing.
| I had been | I'd been |
| you had been | you'd been |
| he had been 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 |
In negative sentences, we may contract the first auxiliary verb and "not":
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:
Here are some more examples:
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 before.
| have been doing → | ||
| had been doing → | ||
| past | present | future |
For example, imagine that you meet Ram at 11am. Ram says to you:
Later, you tell your friends:
Contributor: Josef Essberger, founder of EnglishClub.com. Originally from London, England, Josef is the author of several books for learners of English including English Prepositions List and Learn English in 7.
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