Past Perfect Continuous

We use the past perfect continuous when we talk about an action (quite a long one) which began in the past and continued up until another time in the past.

Unlike the present perfect continuous, which indicates an action that began in the past and continued up to the present, the past perfect continuous indicates something that began in the past, continued in the past, and also ended at a defined point in the past.

The past perfect continuous is formed using had + been + present participle. Questions are indicated by inverting the subject and had. Negatives are made with not. Contracted forms are used.

Compare the present perfect continuous (I have been doing) and the past perfect continuous (I had been doing):

Some time markers can emphasizes the duration of the action. These time markers are all day, all morning, for days, for ages etc. You can also use time markers to say that something had been happening for a period of time before something else happened.

Remember that non-continuous verbs (e.g. to love, hate, know, want etc.) are not used in any continuous tenses. Use the past perfect instead.

Guided Practice

• When the boys entered the room it was clear that they (to fight).

• Fred looked tired. He (to work) on his project the whole night? - He (not to work) on it the whole night. He (to party) instead.

• (present) Nancy is exhausted. She has been running errands.

• I stayed at my friend's place in Paris. He (not to live) there very long, but he knew the city very well.

• Their issues weren't resolved. They had been hating each other since they were kids.

Short Story using Past Perfect Continuous

–It seemed to me that your brother was depressed a year ago.

–Yeah, he'd been feeling down since he lost his job. Could you just imagine that? He got a perfect job at one startup company, the launch was going smoothly. And then 7 months later they lost the funding.

–So at the time the company lost the funding, your brother had been working there for 7 months?

–Correct. We know that it seemed like such a short period of time for some people, but my brother had been dreaming about that amazing job opportunity for years.

–Yeah, I understand that.

Independent Practice

Make sentences using the words in brackets.

1. I had to cancel my trip due to work. (I/to plan/this trip/for months).

2. Mike didn't hear Lucy when she asked for help in the kitchen. (He/to/listen to music/in his room)

3. I was extremely tired when I got home. (I/to work hard/all day)

4. When I entered the room, Kate turned off the TV. (She/to watch/a soap opera).

Put the verbs into the past parfect (I had done) or the past perfect continuous (I had been doing) form.

1. We were good friends. (we/to know) .................... each other for nearly a decade.
2. I was annoyed because my friends were late and (I/to wait) .................... for an hour.
3. Pupils were sitting on the ground. They were out of breath. (they/to run) .................... .

Read the situations and complete the sentences.

We played beach volleyball yesterday. Half an hour after we began playing, it started to rain.

1. We .................... for half an hour when it started to rain.

My aunt got a job at the supermarket. Two years alter it closed down.

2. At the time the supermarket closed down, my aunt .................... there for two years.

The band started playing and after about 15 minutes the singer showed up.

3. At the time the singer showed up, the band .................... for about 15 minutes.