We use it

To refer to actions which had been in progress in the past.

Generally, those actions which had been in progress (and which are written in Past Perfect Continuous), were interrupted by another action (which is written in Past Simple).

This tense is used to talk about situations which were in progress during a period of time, so we generally use these prepositions

For - Since.

STRUCTURE

Auxiliary "Had".

Translation available

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Subject + Had + Been + Verb With -Ing at The End + the rest of the sentence.

In order to write affirmative sentences, we write the auxiliary "Had" after the subject and followed by the word "Been". Then, we write the main verb with the -Ing form at the end of it (that indicates that the action was in progress).

  • Examples

    I had been studying for hours when I fell asleep.

    (The action in progress "I had been studying for hours" was interrupted when he fell asleep, written in the Past Tense).

    They had been waiting for several minutes when the bus appeared.

    Tom bought the house that he had been dreaming about since he was a child.

Subject + Had Not + Been + Main Verb with Ing in the End + the rest of the sentence.

The structure in the negative form is the same as in the Affirmative one. Add "Not" to the auxiliary verb, so it is written

Had Not (Hadn't).

  • Examples

    They had not been living together for long when they broke up.

    He hadn't been playing long when it started raining.

    When the teacher came in, the children had not been speaking loudly.

Had + Subject + Been + Verb with Ing in the End + the rest of the sentence?

In the interrogative form, the auxiliary "Had" is written before the subject.

  • Examples

    Had you been studying for a long time before the competition?

    Had she been working for a long time at the office when she was fired?

    Had he been running too much when he started feeling sick?

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Answer

Correct Answer

The baby _ _ _ _ _ when his mother arrived.

had be crying

Try again

had been crying

Well done!

has been crying

Wrong answer

Tina _ _ _ _ _ watching TV.

hadn't been

Good!

hadn't watched

Keep trying

had to be

Try again

_ _ _ _ _ from California?

She had been driving

Wrong answer

Had she been driving

You did it!

Had she been drive

Keep trying

My uncle _ _ _ _ _ here for ages!

had not to be singing

Try again

had not been sing

Wrong answer

had not been singing

Great!

They _ _ _ _ _ before.

had been playing

Cool!

had playing

Keep trying

had been play

Try again

It's used to talk about actions in progress in the Past.

True

You did it!

False

Wrong answer

The action in Past Perfect Continuous is generally interrupted by another action in Present.

True

Try again

False

That´s it!

We generally use prepositions like FOR and SINCE.

True

Correct answer!

False

Try again

The main verb is always conjugated in the Participle form.

True

Keep trying

False

Well done!

When she arrived, the boys _ _ _ _ _ the bedroom.

had cleaning

Wrong answer

had been cleaning

Good!

Did

Keep trying

I _ _ _ _ _ when it became dark.

hadn't been running

Great!

didn't have running

Try again

hadn't been run

Wrong answer

_ _ _ _ _ they been studying before the test?

Have

Keep trying

Had

Cool!

Did

Try again

Susan had been _ _ _ _ _ for hours.

cooked

Wrong answer

cook

Keep trying

cooking

You did it!

The action in Past Perfect Continuous is generally interrupted by an action in the Past.

True

That´s it!

False

Try again

The main verb always ends with the –ING form.

True

Correct answer!

False

Keep trying

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