Categories: Grammar

Structure of Past Perfect Continuous Tense

PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS/PROGRESSIVE TENSE
This post includes detailed expressions about Past Perfect Continuous tense and its structures in english. Please follow the list about Structure of Past Perfect Continuous Tense;

The tenses simply show the time of an action.

Past Perfect Continuous Tense indicates a past action which started in the past and continued to happen after another action and time in the past. Namely, Past Perfect Continuous Tense tell us “how long the action had continued”. ” the duration of the action” is emphasized more in this tense.

The Structures of Past Perfect Continuous/Progressive Tense

POSITIVE FORM (+):

Subject + HAD + BEEN + V_ing

NEGATIVE FORM (-):

Subject + HAD + NOT + BEEN + V_ing

QUESTION FORM (?):

HAD+ Subject + BEEN + V_ing

POSITIVE (+)	NEGATIVE (-)	QUESTION (?)
I had been starting	I had not (hadn’t) been starting	Had I been starting
You had been starting	You had not (hadn’t) been starting	Had you been starting
He had been starting	He had not (hadn’t) been starting	Had she been starting
She had been starting	She had not (hadn’t) been starting	Had he been starting
It had been starting	It had not (hadn’t) been starting	Had it been starting
We had been starting	We had not (hadn’t) been starting	Had we been starting
You had been starting	You had not (hadn’t) been starting	Had you been starting
They had been starting	They had not (hadn’t) been starting	Had they been starting

Positive Sentences ( Sbj + HAD+ BEEN + Ving )

Examples:

When her husband came home, the woman had been cleaning the house for hours.
The ground was covered with snow. It had been snowing heavy for several hours.
They had been being friend since childhood.
Thomas had been trying to repair the phone the whole day.
We had been studying all day so we tired.
Helen had been listening the same music for 4 hours when I came back home.
Daniel had been watching TV for hours before he slept.
You had been walking all afternoon on the beach.

Negative Sentences ( Sbj + HAD + NOT + BEEN + Ving )

Examples:

I had not (hadn’t) been waiting for Sarah for 40 minutes before she called me.
My daughter had not (hadn’t) been eating anything all day.
She had not (hadn’t) been working all day so she was energetic.
He had not (hadn’t) been reading a book.
I had not (hadn’t) been cooking any meal when she came to my home.
You had not (hadn’t) been studying English all day.
The actor had not (hadn’t) been working since morning.
The teacher had not (hadn’t) been showing us a video when the bell rang.