How to Use The Past Perfect Continuous Tense in English, Definition and Example Sentences
Table of Contents
PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE
Past perfect continuous tense, like present perfect continuous tense, is used for events that have taken place in the past and involve a certain process. But in order to use this time, the action that has taken place in the past and lasts for a certain period of time must be preceded by another action. In its simplest form, past perfect continuous tense describes another event in the past before an event in the past. In order to use past perfect continuous tense in a sentence, there must be another event after it. The logic of this tense is the same as present perfect continuous tense, but the events in question must have happened in the past and ended in the past.
(All tenses in one page, For 12 Tenses Formula with Examples)
This tense is commonly used with the words for / since and after / before. There are also used adverb of time envelopes, the whole day, all day, all morning, lately, recently, all evening yesterday, by, by the time etc.
Positive Sentences
Positive sentence rule in past perfect continuous tense: ‘had’ is brought to all subjects as an auxiliary verb. ‘been’ comes before the verb. We bring the -ing suffix.
Note: ” had been ” structure can be shortened to ” d been ”.
Example Sentences;
- I had been waiting for 45 minutes when the bus finally arrived.
- We had been serving him the for two days.
- We had been looking in the garden for three hours.
- I had been studying Spanish before I moved to Spain.
- The employees had been achieving the target before the boss came.
- I had been sleeping for three hours when my alarm went off.
- My cousin went to bed after she had been watching her favorite TV series.
- Helen was out of breath when she came in.
Negative Sentences
Negative sentence rule in past perfect continuous tense: Likewise, as an auxiliary verb after all subjects ‘had’, but then we should bring the ‘note’ suffix. ‘been’ comes before the verb, and the -ing suffix is added to the verb.
- I was not finished my homework before I had been going to the market with my family.
- They had not been playing football for a month.
- She had not been talking to us since for two days.
- It had not been raining since last fall.
- I had not been playing computer game before they came to house.
- You had not been dancing the whole year.
For Negative sentences with present perfect tense
Question Sentences
Question sentences: In past perfect continuous tense, the ‘has’ auxiliary verb precedes the subject, ie it is written at the beginning of the sentence. the ‘been’ comes after the subject, followed by the verb -ing suffix.
- Had you been finishing your homework before you went to the store with your family?
- Had they been playing football for a month?
- Had you been studying spanish before you moved to Spain?
- Had employees been achieving the target before the boss came.
- Had she been talking to us since for two days?
- Had i been playing computer game before they came to house.
- Had you drinking anything before you left?
