PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

A. FUNCTIONS OF THE PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

The past perfect continuous corresponds to the present perfect continuous, but with reference to a time earlier than 'before now'. As with the present perfect continuous, we are more interested in the process.

EXAMPLES

o Had you been waiting long before the taxi arrived?

o We had been trying to open the door for five minutes when Jane found her key.

o It had been raining hard for several hours and the streets were very wet.

o Her friends had been thinking of calling the police when she walked in.

B. FORMING THE PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

The past perfect continuous is composed of two elements - the past perfect of the verb to be (=had been) + the present participle (base+ing).

Subject	had been	verb + ing
I	had been	walking
Affirmative
She	had been	trying
Negative
She	hadn't been	sleeping
Interrogative
Had you	been	eating?