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Past Perfect Continuous (Progressive)
Definition of Past Perfect Continuous
Past Perfect Continuous tense is used to express an action that started in the past for some specific time period or from a point of time and continued for a while in past and ended in the past
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Usages of Past Perfect Continuous
- To express an action that started in the past, continued in the past for a specific point of time i.e
for two hours
,for ten minutes
,since morning
and then ended in the past.- I had been writing this book since for one year.
- He had been feeling tired after hours of travel in the plane.
- He had been standing at bus stop for an hour.
- Past Perfect Continuous puts emphasis more on time duration of action than action itself.
- We had been learning english more than a year now.
- Poeple had been facing severe life threats for the last one year.
- Life had been becoming more difficult for the poor since since Librals came to power.
- To show combination of cause and effect. Past Perfect Continuous is always a cause in this combination.
- My maid had been washing dishes the whole afternoon because we had guests at home.
- Samantha failed in mid term exam because she had not been attending the coaching classes.
- Simon was exhausted because he had been dancing for the whole evening.
Formation of Past Perfect Continuous
Affirmative Sentences
In positive or affirmative sentences of Past Perfect Continuous Tense we use had been and ing form of verb. Had been is used with 1st person, 2nd person or 3rd person i.e (I, we, he, she, it, they, you, singular names and plural names ).
Examples
- She had been working in this factory for two years.
- I had been playing badminton since the start of the summar.
- He had been watching hockey match for an hour.
- Jacob had been enjoying music for two months.
- My brother had been practicing law since 1990.
Use of SINCE and FOR
We use Since when the starting point or time of the given action is mentioned i.e 5o'clock, 1990, 10th July etc . For is used when time period i.e two years, 5 months, several days etc of an action is mentioned in the sentence.
Examples
He had been playing cricket since 1 o'clock.He had been playing cricket for one hour.
Interrogative Sentences
In interrogative sentences of Past Perfect Continuous Tense we drag had before subject and use ing form of verb. Had been is used with 1st person, 2nd person or 3rd person i.e (I, we, he, she, it, they, you, singular names and plural names ).
Examples
- Had he been playing chess since Monday?
- Had I been calling you for two days?
- Had Stephen been preparing his interview for over a week?
- Had he been riding a heavy bike since his youth?
- Had these plants been growing all the summer in my backyard.
Negative Sentences
In negative sentences of Past Perfect Continuous Tense we use not after had and ing form of verb. Had been is used with 1st person, 2nd person or 3rd person i.e (I, we, he, she, it, they, you, singular names and plural names ).
Examples
- She had not been doing job since her father died.
- We had not been waiting for you for an hour.
- I had not been searching my lost books for three month.
- Jessica had not been taking wrong path to her office for a month?
- We had not been living in Canterbury since 2001.