Using the past perfect continuous. Past Perfect Continuous - past perfect continuous tense in English

Past Perfect Continuous- past continuous perfect tense in English language. Indicates an action that began in the past, continued for some time and ended or did not end before some event in the past. The rules for forming the Past Perfect Continuous in affirmative, negative and interrogative sentences, auxiliary words and examples of use are discussed in more detail below.

To form an affirmative sentence in the Past Perfect Continuous, you must use the auxiliary verbs had been and a verb ending in -ing. Formula for forming an affirmative sentence:

Noun + had been + verb ending in -ing

The noun and had can be contracted to form “d.” Examples of conversational sentences:

I had been playing football for 2 hours and then I took a shower. — I played football for 2:00, after which I took a shower.

I’d been typing this text for 2 hours and then found it on the Internet. — I typed this text for 2:00, and then found it on the Internet.

Negative sentences in the Past Perfect Continuous are formed in a similar way, with the only difference that after the auxiliary verb had the share not is added. Formula:

Noun + had + not + been + verb ending -ing

The auxiliary verb had and the clause not can merge to form had not. Examples of negative sentences:

I had not been playing football all day before I got home. — I hadn't played football all day before I got home.

They had not been waiting for you for 2 hours before you came. — They weren’t expecting you at 2:00 when you arrived.

Interrogative sentences in the Past Perfect Continuous are formed by moving the auxiliary verb had to the beginning of the sentence. Formula:

Had + noun + been + verb ending in -ing

Examples of interrogative sentences:

Had you been doing your homework for 3 hours before I came? - You did your thing homework 3:00 before you arrived?

Had it been raining before he arrived at home? — Was it raining before he came home?

Auxiliary words Past Perfect Continuous

When using the Past Perfect Continuous tense, you can use the following auxiliary words (so-called indicator words):

Cases in which the Past Perfect Continuous is used

The main thing when studying any time is to know the cases when its use will come in handy. Below are the rules and cases for using the Past Perfect Continuous in various situations.
Use case I: long-term exposure before an event in the past

Duration Before Something in the Past

The Past Perfect Continuous is used in cases where you need to put emphasis on an action that occurred over a period of time and ended (or did not end) before another event in the past. examples:

They had been talking for over an hour before Tony arrived. - They spoke more than an hour before Tony arrived.

She had been working at that company for three years when it went out of business. “She worked for the company for three years before it went bankrupt.”

A: How long had you been studying Turkish before you moved to Ankara? — How long did you study Turkish before you left for Ankara?
B: I had not been studying Turkish very long. — I haven’t studied Turkish for too long.

IIuse case: the reason for what is in the past

Cause of Something in the Past

Past Perfect Continuous can also be used in cases where you need to show a cause-and-effect relationship between events in the past. examples:

Jason was tired because he had been jogging. — Jason was tired because he was running.

Sam gained weight because he had been overeating. — Sam gained weight because he overeated.

Betty failed the final test because she had not been attending class. — Betty failed the final test because she was not present in class.

English grammar offers four tenses for expressing past actions - Past Simple, Past Continuous, Past Perfect and Past Perfect Progressive. We will talk in more detail below about when the Past Perfect Continuous is used and how the Past Perfect Continuous is formed.

Past Perfect Continuous rules and examples

There are three tenses in English: Past (past), Present (present) and Future (future). But timing is only half the battle. You also need to think about the category - the simplicity of the action (Simple), its duration (Continuous) or completeness (Perfect).

We understood that he had been working hard all these years - We understood that he worked hard all these years.

From this example it is quite clear that we are talking about the past - Past, both in the first part of the sentence and in the second. Next we move on to the category. The first verb understood (understood) “behaves” usually, everyday, simply (Simple), and the second one is not so simple. On the one hand, the action of the verb had been working began and lasted for some time (Continuous), and on the other hand, it came to an end and ended (Perfect).

Total - the predicate understood (understood) is used in the Past Simple (Simple Past), and the predicate had been working (worked) - in the Past Perfect Continuous (Past Perfect Continuous).

The Past Perfect Continuous tense, as a rule, is not considered in the first, initial stages of learning English.

Use

This time has a rather limited range of tasks, which largely repeats the functions of the Present Perfect Continuous (Present Perfect Continuous), but only in the past:

• The Past Perfect Continuous is used to describe an action that began in the past and continued until some point in the past. Another action or special words are used to indicate this moment (by the time (by the time), after (after), since (since), before (before), for (during):

She had been crying for an hour before we came - She cried for an hour before we came.

• Past Perfect Continuous denotes an action that began and lasted a certain time in the past, and the result, the result of this action is clearly traceable in the past:

In cases where there is a need to specifically note the duration of an action in the past, but the predicate is expressed by a state verb, the Past Perfect Continuous is not used. Instead of this tense, the Past Perfect is used:

He had loved her inner world for all his life - He loved her inner world all of my life.

Formation of the affirmative form

An auxiliary verb is used to form the affirmative form Past Perfect Continuous to be, used in the temporary form Past Perfect (Past Perfect) - had been, and the main verb ending - ing. This can be represented as a formula “subjects + had been + verb + -ing” ;:

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I had been using (I used), you had been flying (you flew), they had been building (they built).

Negative and interrogative forms

A negative particle is used to express negation not (not) which is placed between verbs had And been: subjects + had not been + verb + -ing

(I had not been using (I did not use), you had not been flying (you did not fly), they had not been building (they did not build).

In questions, the direct word order characteristic of an English sentence is violated. The auxiliary verb comes first had comes first, followed by subjects, been and main verb: Had + subjects + been + verb + -ing ?

(Had I been using? (have I used?), Had you been flying? (have you flown?), Had they been building (have they built?).

What have we learned?

Using example sentences, today we looked at a new tense - Past Perfect Continuous. It is translated into Russian as Past Perfect Continuous, and denotes an action that began in the past and lasts for a certain time in the past. It is impossible to use it independently. It always requires a context - another action or moment.

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Some tenses in English are not used as often as their “comrades”. Usually their use is limited to certain situations, in which sometimes such tenses can even be replaced by other, simpler ones. The list of such times includes the times of the group Perfect Continuous. Perhaps this is one of the least common groups, knowledge of which is still necessary for the natural sound and demonstration of a high level of knowledge of the language. That is why let's look at one of the times of this group, namely the time Past Perfect Continuous(pronounced [past perfect continuus]).

Past Perfect Continuous Tense (also Past Perfect Progressive Tense) or past perfect continuous tense is an English tense used to express actions that lasted up to a certain moment in the past and either ended before that moment or continued during it.

In simple words, the Past Perfect Continuous is used to show that an action occurred in the past, and another action lasted before it. Let's study the rules of formation, forms and uses of this tense.

The Past Perfect Continuous is formed using auxiliary and main verbs. The auxiliary is expressed by the verb to be in (had been). This auxiliary verb does not change in persons or numbers, always remaining unchanged:

Main verbs are formed using the present participle (Participle I). To form it, you need to add the ending –ing to the verb in the infinitive.

Note that:

1. When adding an ending to a verb ending in –e, –e is omitted:

1. If a word ends in –ie, this ending is replaced with –y:

The rule does not work with endings –w and –x:

2) In American, if the last syllable is stressed:

Accordingly, combining both parts, we get necessary design to form the Past Perfect Continuous:

Past Perfect Continuous: sentence forms

Once you understand how to form verbs, you need to understand how they can be used in different sentences. Having become familiar with one tense of this group: Past or Perfect Continuous, Present or Future, you can easily form sentence forms for the other two tenses, because they are built on the same principle.

Affirmative form Past Perfect Continuous

The affirmative form of the Past Perfect Continuous is formed in a standard way: first comes the subject, followed by the auxiliary and main verbs as the predicate, and then the secondary members of the sentence:

The example above, like all subsequent ones, is used in the active voice (Active Voice). Perfect Continuous Passive or passive voice for Perfect Continuous tenses is usually not used. The fact is that such sentences in Passive Voice will sound very “cluttered” and strange, and since the language tends to simplify, you won’t have to use any “had been being doing” in the “passive”.

Negative Past Perfect Continuous

In negative sentences, the negative particle not appears between the parts of the auxiliary verb, but the overall structure remains the same:

Since pronouncing three verbs at once is not entirely convenient, abbreviations are used in speech for both the affirmative and negative forms:

Question past perfect continuous form

The formation of the interrogative form remains unchanged for almost all types of questions:

• In a general question, the auxiliary verb had comes to the fore:

• In an alternative question, any second member of the sentence for choice and the conjunction or (or) are added to the form above:

• In a special question, the form of a general question is diluted with interrogative words that are placed before the auxiliary verb had:

• Only the dividing question is different from the others. It retains the form of an affirmative or negative sentence, followed by a short question:

Past Perfect Continuous: use

All that remains is to figure out in what cases the Past Perfect Continuous is used in English . Here it is worth paying attention to one funny paradox that the English language has: the fact is that the more complex a topic in English is considered, the easier it is. This happens because difficult times are usually limited to specific situations. Accordingly, there are very few cases of use of such tenses, which means that remembering these cases will not be difficult. Here, in fact, they are:

1. The Past Perfect Continuous is used to express actions that lasted up to a certain point in the past. When the moment arrived, the action ended. Often in such cases no marker words are used , and the need to use this time is determined by the context:

Although sometimes the before (before), after (after), till / until (before) pointers are still present:

1. Tense is also used to show that an action lasted and continued to last at a certain point in the past. In such cases, sentences may contain indicator words: all day long / my life (all day / all my life), since (since), when (when), as well as time markers by the time (by that time ) and for (during):

If the sentences in this case are not used with words indicating how long the action took place, the Past Continuous is used instead of the Past Perfect Continuous:

1. It is worth noting that the action in the Past Perfect Continuous can take place during a certain period, but not on an ongoing basis:

1. The past continuous tense is also used to express an action, the result of which was seen later in the past. The indicators of time here are precisely the results of the action:

1. It is worth noting that this tense is often replaced by the Past Perfect, especially in negative sentences:

1. In addition, the rules indicate that the Present Perfect Continuous cannot be used with state verbs, since they cannot last. This group includes words indicating emotions, desires, possession, perception and mental activity. When using them, the Past Perfect is always used, even if the Past Perfect Continuous is implied:

In order to fully use the English language, you need to be “friendly” with all tenses, even such rare ones as the Past Perfect Continuous or the Past Perfect Continuous. As you can see, there is nothing complicated in the rules of education of this time. To understand whether it is worth using it, it is enough to use words that indicate that the action is taking place exactly at this time. If initially you confuse this tense with the Past Perfect tense, periodically return to the rules and create examples to reinforce this material.

In this article, based on rules and examples, we will tell you how to correctly form and use the Past Perfect Continuous.

Formation Past Perfect Continuous

First, let's look at how the Past Perfect Continuous is formed:

Let's look at examples of affirmative sentences in the Past Perfect Continuous:

He had been looking for a job for months before he got one. - He was looking for job for months before I found one.
By the time we came home, our mum had been cooking in the kitchen for three hours. - By the time we arrived home, our mother cooked in the kitchen for three hours.

Examples of negative sentences in the Past Perfect Continuous:

My sister hadn't been waiting long at the airport when they announced about the delay of her flight. - My sister Not for a long time waited at the airport when her flight was announced to be delayed.
She hadn't been swimming for more than ten years by the time she moved to Miami. - She didn't swim more than ten years by the time she moved to Miami.

Examples of interrogative sentences in the Past Perfect Continuous:

Had you been playing football when did Alex arrive? - You took a long time played football when did Alex arrive?
How long had you been going out with David before you split up? - How long you met with David before you broke up?

Using the Past Perfect Continuous

Let's look at when the Past Perfect Continuous is used:

1. Past Perfect Continuous is used in cases where we need to emphasize the duration of an action that began and ended before another action began in the past. Let's look at examples of sentences in the Past Perfect Continuous:

   We had been flying for almost four hours before the flight attendants started to serve the meals. - We were flying it's almost four hours before the flight attendants started to spread I'm going.
   How long had you been driving when you understood that you were lost? - How long you were traveling by car, When understood What are you lost?
   By the time he came to the office, we had been talking for two hours. - By the time he came to the office, we negotiated for two hours.

2. Past Perfect Continuous is appropriate to use when an action lasted some time in the past, then ended, and its result was also obvious in the past.

   It was so clean when we got back to our hotel room. The maids had been cleaning all morning. - When we returned to the hotel room, it was so clean. Maids were cleaning all morning.

Marker words Past Perfect Continuous

We will look at the most common Past Perfect Continuous marker words, and also give several examples with translation:

• for - throughout, during (followed by an amount of time, for example, all morning, five years);
• before - before;
• since - since (after since we put a specific time, date or day of the week);
• how long - how long (used in interrogative sentences);
• until/till - until, as long as;
• all morning, all day, all night long - all morning, all day, all night;
• by - to a certain moment (in the past).

My husband and I had been living with my parents for a year before we moved house. - My husband and I lived with my parents for of the year, before we moved.
The company that closed down a week ago had been successfully working since 1925. - The company that closed last week successfully worked with 1925.

- How long had you been learning to dance?
- I had been learning to dance until I understood I was hopeless.
- How long You learned to dance?
- I learned to dance until then, Bye I didn't realize that I was hopeless.

Past Perfect Continuous and Present Perfect Continuous

Unlike the Present Perfect Continuous, where the action began in the past and is still ongoing, the Past Perfect Continuous tells us that the action began in the past, lasted in the past and ended up to a certain point in the past. Let's compare them:

Please note that, just like in the Present Perfect Continuous, the Past Perfect Continuous cannot use state verbs: like, love, know, understand, see and others. If it is important for you to show the duration of an action, use the Past Perfect. For example:

I had known her for 10 years before we lost touch. - I knew its 10 years before we lost touch.

Past Perfect Continuous, Past Perfect and Past Continuous

The Past Continuous is used to express an action that was in progress at a specific time in the past and/or was interrupted by another event in the Past Simple. This tense is often used to describe the background of a story.

Past Perfect is appropriate to use in cases where we need to show which of two actions in the past happened earlier. For the Past Perfect, the completion of the action and its result are important.

The difference between Past Perfect and Past Perfect Continuous is that in one tense the result of the action and its completion are important, and in the second the emphasis is on duration.

Here is an example of a sentence in which we use three past tenses at once:

We had been driving for about an hour when we understood that we had forgotten our dog at home. - We were driving about an hour when understood, What forgot our dog at home.

The first part of the sentence is a long action in the past, which lasted until the moment they realized that they had forgotten the dog. The second sentence is a short completed action. The third sentence is an action that happened before all other events in the past.

Now you know how and when to use the Past Perfect Continuous and how it differs from other tenses. To consolidate your knowledge, we suggest you take a test on the topic.

Test on the topic “Past Perfect Continuous - rules and examples”

Past Perfect Continuous- this is, in fact, an analogue of the Present Perfect Continuous, but in the past tense. The Past Perfect Continuous tense has its own peculiarity - it is not used in speech as an independent tense, that is, it always appears in conjunction with another tense. This can complicate the understanding and use of the Past Perfect Continuous, since in Russian it has no equivalent: one past tense is used to denote any actions that occurred in the past. The British prefer to clearly define the sequence of events using complex tenses.

Using the Past Perfect Continuous in English requires knowledge of certain rules. Typically, this tense is used to refer to actions or events that began in the past, lasted for a certain period of time, and were completed by the time another event or action began.

Examples of using the past perfect continuous tense:

• I had been cooking on the kitchen for an hour when the telephone rang up and my friend invited me to the party. - I was cooking in the kitchen for an hour when the phone rang and my friend invited me to a party.
• They had been working at this project since 2000 until they finished it. - They worked on this project from 2000 until they finished it.
• They had been walking for half an hour before they met Tony. - They walked for half an hour until they met Tony.
• She had been living in that house for five years when it burned down. “She had been living in this house for more than five years when it burned down.

Important to remember: when the past perfect continuus is used, the sentence usually contains the same time indicators as when using the Present Perfect Continuous: since - from that moment, for - during.

Past Perfect Continuous can also denote an action that lasted for some period of time in the past and ended with a certain result. In this case, the duration of action is usually indicated. Usage example:

• There was snow in the street. It had been snowing at night. - There was snow on the street. There was snowfall at night. (snow is the result of snowfall)
• I had been reading the book for an hour when John came back home. - I had already been reading the book for an hour when John returned home.
• The child was dirty because he had been playing in sand. - The child was dirty because he played in the sand.
• Alice gained weight because she ate too much sugar. - Alice gained weight because she ate too much sugar.
• Betty fainted because she had not been eating since morning. - Betty fainted because she hadn’t eaten anything since the morning.

Uses of the Past Perfect Continuous they try to avoid when constructing negative sentences, replacing it with the Past Perfect. The meaning of the sentence remains the same.

Examples:

• He had loved her for all his life. - He loved her all his life.
• He hadn’t been swimming in a river since he was a child. = He hadn’t swum in a river since he was a child. - He hasn't swum in the river since he was a child.

Also, the Past Perfect Continuous tense, like all tenses of the Continuous group, are not used together with verbs of the non-continuous group, as well as with some verbs of the mixed group. Instead of Past Perfect Continuous, you need to use Past Perfect with them.

Examples:

• The house had been belonging to an eldery couple for many years before she bought it. - The house belonged to an elderly couple for many years before they purchased it. (Wrong.)
• The house had belonged to an eldery couple for years before she bought it. (Right.)

Important to remember

If an action that lasted for some period of time in the past is not limited to an exact indication of time, you should use the Simple Past or Past Perfect.

Examples:

• Didn't have been watching TV for several hours when his mother told him to go to bed. - He had been watching TV for several hours when his mother told him to go to bed. (The first action - looked - is limited to the exact indication of another action - mom said, so it is expressed in the Past Perfect Continuous.)
• Not watched TV for several hours. - He watched TV for several hours.

All these are the basic rules for using Perfect Continus pastes. This tense has a fairly narrow “specialization” and in modern English is often replaced by other tenses, so there are quite a few cases of its use, and it is not difficult to remember them.

Past Continuous and Past Perfect Continuous: how not to confuse them

The Past Perfect Continuous tense is similar not only to the Past Perfect, but also to the Past Continuous. Because of this, it is often difficult to determine which of these tenses should be used. The presence of the -ing ending makes the construction of both tenses similar. In addition, both Past Continuous and Past Perfect Continuous indicate an action or event that continued in the past:

• I was cleaning up my room when she came home. - I was cleaning the room when she came home. The tense used is Past Continuous: it is used because the action was ongoing at the moment when another event occurred, that is, cleaning and returning home happened at the same moment.
• I had been cleaning up my room for half an hour when she came home. - I had been cleaning the room for half an hour when she came home. The tense used is Past Perfect Continuous: the action began and lasted for a period of time before another event happened, that is, first I cleaned for half an hour, and then she came home.
• It wasn’t raining when we went out. The sun was shining. But it had been raining, so the ground was wet. - When we left, it wasn’t raining. Sun was shining. But before that it had rained and the ground was wet.
• Tom was sleeping already at 9 pm. He went to bed early because he had been working at night that day. - At nine in the evening Tom was already asleep. He went to bed early because he had previously worked at night.

Despite many similarities, it is quite simple to distinguish these two tenses - to do this you need to pay attention to the prepositions accompanying the tense words. The use of the preposition for - during (for an hour, for a week, for a month) indicates that you need to use the Past Perfect Continuous, and not the Past Continuous.

How sentences are built in the Past Perfect Continuous

Formation Past Perfect Continuous occurs with the help of: the auxiliary verb had (have in the past tense), the verb to be in the 3rd form - been and the ending -ing, which is added to the verb denoting the action itself

Examples of use:

• I had been listening to music for several hours. I listened to music for several hours.
• I had been working in a garden since morning. - I have been working in the garden since the morning. She had been doing her homework since 5 o’clock. - She did her homework until 5 o’clock.

Singular

I had been walking

You had been walking

He / she / it had been walking

Plural

We had been walking

You had been walking

They had been walking

Negative Past Perfect Continuous is formed using the negative particle not, which is placed after the first auxiliary verb had.

• Has not been playing tennis since 2000. He has not played tennis since 2000.
• Of course he wasn’t tired! He had not been working like a horse all the week. - Of course he’s not tired! He hasn't worked like a horse all week!
• She had not been speaking before she was told to. - She didn't speak until she was told.

Use with pronouns: Singular I had not been walking You had not been walking He / she / it had not been walking Plural We had not been walking You had not been walking They had not been walking

How is the Past Perfect Continuous formed in interrogative form: the first auxiliary verb had is simply placed first before the subject.

Examples:

• Had you been playing tennis for 5 years? - Have you played tennis for five years?
• How long had you been sitting here? - How long have you been sitting here?
• How long had you been training before you won your first competition? - How long did you train before you won your first competition?

Use with pronouns:

Singular

Had I been walking?

Had you been walking?

Had he / she / it been walking?

Plural

Had we been walking?

Had you been walking?

Had they been walking?

It is impossible to talk about how the Past Perfect Continuous is formed without mentioning tense words, which always help to unmistakably distinguish it from other similar times:

• before - before;
• till - until;
• untill - until;
• for an hour - for an hour;
• for 5 hours - for five hours;
• for a day - throughout the day;
• for a week - during the week;
• for a month - for a month;
• all morning / the whole morning - all morning;
• all day (long) / the whole day - all day;
• all week / the whole week - all week;
• all month / the whole month - the whole month;
• all year (round) - all year;
• since 5 o’clock - from five o’clock;
• since last week - since last week;
• since last month - since last month.
• since 1991 - since 1991
• since last century - since the last century

In colloquial speech, the Past Perfect Continuous uses the same abbreviations as the Past Perfect: I'd been doing, he'd been talking, I hadn't been doing, I'd not been talking, hadn't he been doing ?

Important to remember: Almost any English tense has both active and passive voice. The Past Perfect Continuous has only an active form. If you need to use the passive, then the Past Perfect Continuous is usually replaced with the Past Perfect.