Past Perfect Continuous Tense

The Past Perfect Continuous tense is used to express something that started in the past and continued until another time in the past.

POSITIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	HAD BEEN	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	had been	standing	at the bus stop for thirty minutes.
You	had been	standing	at the bus stop for thirty minutes.
He	had been	standing	at the bus stop for thirty minutes.
Mohan	had been	standing	at the bus stop for thirty minutes.
The boy	had been	standing	at the bus stop for thirty minutes.
She	had been	standing	at the bus stop for thirty minutes.
Pooja	had been	standing	at the bus stop for thirty minutes.
The girl	had been	standing	at the bus stop for thirty minutes.
We	had been	standing	at the bus stop for thirty minutes.
You	had been	standing	at the bus stop for thirty minutes.
They	had been	standing	at the bus stop for thirty minutes.
The children	had been	standing	at the bus stop for thirty minutes.

Notice that we use ‘had been’ and the verb + ing the same for all subjects.

NEGATIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	HAD NOT BEEN	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	had not been	exercising	at the gymnasium.
You	had not been	exercising	at the gymnasium.
He	had not been	exercising	at the gymnasium.
Mohan	had not been	exercising	at the gymnasium.
The boy	had not been	exercising	at the gymnasium.
She	had not been	exercising	at the gymnasium.
Pooja	had not been	exercising	at the gymnasium.
The girl	had not been	exercising	at the gymnasium.
We	had not been	exercising	at the gymnasium.
You	had not been	exercising	at the gymnasium.
They	had not been	exercising	at the gymnasium.
The children	had not been	exercising	at the gymnasium.

Notice that we use ‘had not been’ and the verb + ing form for all subjects.

INTERROGATIVE STATEMENTS / QUESTIONS

HAD	SUBJECT	BEEN	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
Had	I	been	waiting	for a long time?
Had	you	been	waiting	for a long time?
Had	he	been	waiting	for a long time?
Had	Mohan	been	waiting	for a long time?
Had	the boy	been	waiting	for a long time?
Had	she	been	waiting	for a long time?
Had	Pooja	been	waiting	for a long time?
Had	the girl	been	waiting	for a long time?
Had	we	been	waiting	for a long time?
Had	you	been	waiting	for a long time?
Had	they	been	waiting	for a long time?
Had	the men	been	waiting	for a long time?

What is Past Perfect Continuous Tense?

PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

USE: We use PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS to talk about thecontinuity or duration of a situation or activity which had been in progress up to the past time.

Example:

- We had been playing about half an hour when it started to rain very heavy.

- Jim had been drinking coffee for 20 years before he quitted it.

- I was very tired when I got home because I had been walking hard all day.

FORMULA

Positive Sentence:

Subject + had + been + verb-ing + object/complement

Example:

- I had been waiting for you for an hour.

- We had been playing soccer for three hours.

- They had been working hard today.

Negative Sentence:

Sub + had + not + been + verb-ing + obj/comp

Example:

- She had not been suffering from flu.

- They had not been working for two years

- I had not been expecting the news for some time.

Question:

Had + sub + been + verb-ing + obj/comp ?

Example:

- Had Jame been driving for five hours before his car broke down?

- Had you been sitting at the platform for an hour?

- Had they been dancing all night?

Related page

What is Tense? Definition of Tense.

What is the type of tense?

What Is the Past Tense?

What Is the Present Tense?

What is the Future Tense?

Structure of All Tense

Simple Present Tense

Present Continuous Tense

Present Perfect Tense

Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Simple Past Tense

Past Continuous Tense

Past Perfect Tense

Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Simple Future Tense

Future Continuous Tense

Future Perfect Tense

Future Perfect Continuous Tense

All Tense with example

Table of English Tenses with example

TENSE CHART