Past Perfect Continuous

Express the duration of actions that were ongoing before another past action or time

What is Past Perfect Continuous?

The past perfect continuous emphasizes the duration and ongoing nature of an action that was in progress before another action or time in the past. It answers "How long?" before something else happened in the past.

Compare: "I had studied English" (past perfect - focuses on completion) vs. "I had been studying English for 3 hours when you called" (past perfect continuous - emphasizes duration).

When to Use

1. Duration Before a Past Action (How Long?)

I had been studying for three hours when you called. (emphasizes the 3-hour duration)
She had been working there for 5 years before she quit.
They had been living in London for 10 years when they moved.
We had been waiting for 30 minutes before the bus arrived.
He had been learning Spanish for 2 years before he visited Mexico.
It had been raining all day before it finally stopped.

2. Explaining Past Situations (Visible Results)

I was tired because I had been running. (explains why I was tired)
She was dirty because she had been gardening.
His eyes were red because he had been crying.
They were sweaty because they had been exercising.
The road was wet because it had been raining.
I smelled smoke because someone had been cooking.

3. Repeated Actions Over a Period Before a Past Time

I had been calling you all morning before you answered! (repeatedly calling)
She had been asking about you before you arrived.
They had been having problems for months before they broke up.
We had been going to that restaurant regularly before it closed.

4. Actions in Progress Up Until a Past Moment

At 8 PM yesterday, I had been working for 10 hours straight.
By 2020, she had been teaching for 15 years.
When the accident happened, he had been driving for 6 hours.
Before the exam started, I had been revising all night.

Formation

Positive: Subject + had + been + verb-ing

I had been working all morning.
You had been studying hard.
He had been sleeping for hours.
She had been practicing piano.
We had been traveling for days.
They had been arguing all evening.
It had been snowing all night.

Negative: Subject + had + not + been + verb-ing

I hadn't been feeling well before the trip.
She hadn't been sleeping well for weeks.
We hadn't been exercising enough before the race.
They hadn't been paying attention when the teacher explained.

Question: Had + subject + been + verb-ing?

Had you been waiting long before I arrived?
Had she been working there long before she left?
What had you been doing before the accident?
How long had you been studying English before you moved to the US?

Common Mistakes

❌ I had been study for hours. → ✅ I had been studying for hours.
❌ She has been working when I arrived. → ✅ She had been working when I arrived. (not present perfect continuous)
❌ Had you been know him long? → ✅ Had you known him long? (stative verbs use past perfect)
❌ They had being waiting. → ✅ They had been waiting.
❌ I had been loving that place. → ✅ I had loved that place. (stative)
❌ Before I moved, I had worked there. → ✅ Before I moved, I had been working there for 5 years. (emphasize duration)
❌ She had been finish when I came. → ✅ She had finished when I came. (use past perfect, not continuous)
❌ We had been went there. → ✅ We had been going there regularly.

Practice Tips

⏱️ Duration focus: Use past perfect continuous to emphasize "How long?" before a past event. Use past perfect to emphasize completion or result.
🔑 For/Since: "For" + period (for 3 hours). "Since" + starting point (since 2010). These markers are common with this tense.
⚠️ Stative verbs: Don't use continuous with know, understand, like, love, want, need, believe. Use past perfect instead: "I had known him for years."
✍️ Explain past states: Practice explaining past situations: "I was tired because I had been...", "The ground was wet because it had been..."
📖 Timeline thinking: Draw two past points. The ongoing action (had been + -ing) happened over time before the second past point (simple past).