Past Perfect Continuous Tense Rules and Examples with Sentence Structure. Meaning, Definition and use of Past Perfect Continuous Tense Sentences (Past Perfect Progressive Tense). It is formed using the auxiliary verb had been with verb I + ing.
What is Past Perfect Continuous Tense?
Past perfect continuous tense is used to express perfect actions that happen before something. Continuous actions happen over time. We use past perfect continuous tense when we want to make it clear that the action was happening over time, until (or almost until) something in the past.
In other words, we can say the same thing is that we use past perfect continuous tense to describe that an action started before a time in the past and that the action continued until
(or almost until) that time.
Examples:
- The teacher had been teaching us history for forty-five minutes.
- When it rained, she had been sleeping in the room.
- She had been talking to you for a long time.
- George had been watching a movie on the T.V. since morning.
- I had been waiting for the train for an hour.
- She had been sleeping for five hours.
- They had been traveling by train before they arrived at the station.
- John hadn’t been talking about his trip to Europe.
- George hadn’t been waiting for his boss since 8 o’clock.
Note: in the above sentences, the auxiliary verb ‘had’ with ‘been’ is working as a helping verb. These sentences so that the action happened before a time and continued until that time. We use the first form of the (base form of the verb) with -ing as a main verb.
Past Perfect Continuous Tense Examples and Rules
Past Perfect Continuous Tense Examples and Rules are given below. The rules of past perfect continuous tense can help you understand how to use rules and make sentences.
Rules:
(A) To make simple statements, we use the helping verb ‘had been’ with both the singular subjects and plural subjects.
- He had been
- She had been
- It had been
- Tom had been
- I had been
- We had been
- You had been
- They had been
- The teachers had been
- The old men had been
(B) After putting the helping verb, we put the main verb. The base form of the verb with -ing is used as the main verb.
- I had been singing.
- You had been eating.
- We had been playing.
- She had been dancing.
- They had been drinking.
(C) When we talk about a point of time or period of time, we use ‘since’ for point of time and ‘for’ for a period of time.
- Since Sunday
- Since January
- Since 2 September
- Since morning
- Since evening
- Since Yesterday
- Since 5 o’clock
- For two weeks
- For three days
- For an hour
- For three years
- For a long time
- For a week
Are you wondering how to make Past Perfect Continuous Tense? It’s very easy to do it. Let’s read the examples of past perfect continuous tense below with rules and sentence structure.
Read Also:
- Simple Present Tense
- Present Continuous Tense
- Present Perfect Tense
- Present Perfect Continuous Tense
Simple Sentences of Past Perfect Continuous Tense
Simple Sentences of Past Perfect Continuous Tense are made according to the given steps and sentence structure.
Steps:
- First of all, put your ‘subject’ at beginning
- Use the helping verb ‘had been’ after the subject.
- Write the main verb of the sentence (The base form with -ing)
- Write your object if there is any.
- Write the other words
- Write since/for with time.
Structure: Subject + had been + verb I + object + others words + since/for + time
Examples:
- She had been drinking water for an hour.
- I had been waiting for the train for two hours.
- They had been playing music in the room since evening.
- When Tom arrived, I had been waiting for ten minutes.
- The thief had been trying to unlock the door when the police officer arrived there.
- Ricky had been crying since he lost his job.
- William was tired. He had been working all afternoon.
- I had been discovering new opportunities for a long time.
- She had been facing difficulties for 3 years.
- Our colleagues had been working hard on this project for two months.
- Our friends had been playing cricket in the park for an hour.
- This computer had been working for five minutes.
- George had been teaching history at the university for five years.
- The girl had been playing chess since morning.
- Tom had been solving these difficult puzzles since yesterday.
- The man had been working in the cafe for five months.
- I had been cleaning the kitchen since 9 o’clock when you phoned me.
- We had been taking medicine since last Sunday.
- People had been traveling on the strain for two years.
- The pizza boy had been waiting for me since four o’clock.
Negative Sentences of Past Perfect Continuous Tense
Negative sentences of past perfect continuous tense are made by putting ‘not’ between had been. To make negative sentences, we can follow the steps and sentences structure given below:
Steps:
- First of all, put the subject at the beginning of the sentence.
- Write the helping verb ‘had not been’
- Put the main verb with the base form of the verb with -ing. (Verb I + ing)
- Write the object after the main verb.
- Write the other words.
- Write since or for with time.
- Put the full stop at the end of the sentence.
Structure: Subject + had not been + verb I + ing + object + other words + since/for + time
Examples:
- I had not been learning French in Paris for 3 years.
- She had not been repairing my car for an hour.
- They had not been playing hockey on the ground since morning.
- When I met her, she had not been walking in the park for thirty minutes.
- The driver had not been driving a sports car since evening.
- The girl had not been cleaning her house with a mop for 2 hours.
- She had not been trying to find her ring for an hour.
- They had not been learning French for 5 years.
- We hadn’t been playing golf with our friends for 30 minutes.
- The manager of the company had not been working here for 10 years.
- Your younger sister had not been learning dance for 3 months.
- This girl had not been searching for her parents on the train for 2 hours.
- These thieves had not been staying money from the bank since evening.
- You had not been opening your shop for 2 months.
- The workers of the factory had not been working properly for 2 days.
- She hadn’t been trying to get this job since January.
- I hadn’t been writing an essay for five days.
- Sarah and Jack hadn’t been going on a trip for the last three years.
- Our dog hadn’t been barking for five minutes.
- The crow hadn’t been drinking water for the last few days.
Read also:
Interrogative Sentences
Interrogative Sentences of Past Perfect Continuous tense are made in two ways; yes-no type questions and wh-word type questions. The questions which start with a helping verb or an auxiliary verb ‘had’ are called a yes-no type question and a wh-word type question starts with a question word.
Yes-No Type Questions Structure
Had + subject + been + verb I + ing + object + other words + since/for + time + ?
Examples:
- Had they been studying french for 2 years?
- Had she been decorating her house on Christmas for 3 hours?
- Had Jack been cleaning his house since morning?
- Had you been opening your shop for 3 months?
- Had the police been searching for criminals for the last 3 years?
- Had your father been teaching you French since 2020?
- Had they been playing hockey in the park for 5 days?
- Had your friends been going to the office by train for 3 days?
- Had we been counting the chickens for three hours?
- Had this girl been applying for this post for the last two years?
- Had you been accepting his proposal for the last three days?
- Had they been fighting among themselves when you show them?
- Had I been beating your younger brother for 2 days?
- Had we been going for trips since 2015?
- Had your assistant manager win coming to the office for 3 days?
- Had this mischief boy been making a noise in the classroom for five minutes?
- Had I been teaching you a new subject at the university for 5 years?
- Had the animals been drinking water from the lake, when you saw them?
- Had this little child been irritating you for 10 minutes?
- Had Jack been reading the Bible in the church since morning?
Wh-word Type Interrogative Sentences
A wh-word type question is made by putting the question word at the beginning of the sentence. Follow the given sentence structure.
Structure: Question word + had + subject + been + verb I + ing + object + other words + since/for + time + ?
Examples:
- Why had you been disturbing him for 5 hours?
- What had seen when doing in the park when you met her?
- Why had you been looking for your purse at night for 2 hours?
- Who had been searching for you since last night?
- Whom had you been giving money to for the last 10 years?
- What had they been playing at the park when your grandfather reached there?
- How long had she been staying with you?
- Which girl had been coming to meet you since Sunday?
- Why had Jack been cleaning the floor of the company for five years?
- What had the teacher been teaching you since High School?
- Which boy had been playing with your girl for three days?
- Who had been selling the toys here for an hour?
- What had the girl been playing with these kids for five hours?
- Which man had been investigating the case for five years?
- Where had those guys been having a party for five days?
Interrogative Negative Sentences of Past Perfect Continuous Tense
To make integrative negative sentences of the past perfect tense, we put not after the subject of the sentence. We can also use any negative word in the sentence.
Examples:
- Had they not been driving fast on the road for 30 minutes?
- What had the boy not been cooking for his family in the kitchen for forty minutes?
- Who had not been decorating your house on Christmas for the last 10 years?
- Where had they not been meeting us since January?
- Why had you not been watching the plants for the last 2 days?
- Why had she not been going to the cinema since Sunday?
- Who had not been inviting John to the party for the last 5 months?
- What hadn’t you been writing for two hours?
- Whose family had you not been meeting since last Sunday?
- Had your father not been driving the lorry for five days?
Use of Past Perfect Continuous Tense
(1) We use the past perfect continuous tense to express the action that was happening in the past and continued for a specific time.
Examples:
- She had been talking to me for 2 hours.
- they had been working here for 5 years.
- I had not been living here since 2015
- Those boys had been playing cricket since 5 o’clock.
- Had she been staying with you for the last five years?
- It had been raining in the town for 5 days.
- The black cows had not been grazing here since morning.
- Our younger brother had not been studying at the University for 2 years.
- I had not been studying when my mother entered the room.
- Had the teacher been staying at the hotel for five years?
Note: we know that we use any tense to express something for a specific time. We should be careful using the tense. Before using any tense in our language, we must know its rules and use.
If you want to understand any tense, you must read its examples and rules because they can give you an idea of how to use a particular tense in your language.
Read also:
Examples of Past Perfect Continuous Tense
- She had been crying for 2 hours
- They had been playing cricket since 2 o’clock.
- You had been talking to her younger sister for 30 minutes.
- I had been teaching at the university for 5 years.
- I had been learning French here for the last three months.
- This man had been cleaning the roads for a decade.
- Your little kids had been listening to the music for an hour.
- The children had not been swimming in the pool since evening.
- She has had been cleaning his
- I had not been learning past perfect continuous tense for 3 months.
Read also:
Past Perfect Continuous Tense Video
Conclusion
In this post, we have described the past perfect continuous tense examples, rules, and sentence structure. Past perfect continuous tense is the fourth part of past tense. The structure of this tense is like the present perfect continuous tense. The difference is very simple. We use ‘has been’ and ‘have been in the present perfect continuous tense but we use ‘had been’ in the past perfect continuous tense. We have placed a video link above so that you can understand this tense perfectly. It’s necessary to use this tense in your daily life after learning it.
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