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Past Perfect Continuous (Past Perfect Progressive)

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Past Perfect Continuous—Uses
Changing the Emphasis of a Past Perfect Continuous Sentence
Stative Verb Continuous Form
Past Perfect Continuous—Affirmative Form
Past Perfect Continuous Affirmative Form Exercise
Past Perfect Continuous—Negative Form
Past Perfect Continuous Negative Form Exercise
Past Perfect Continuous—Question Form
Past Perfect Continuous Question Forms Exercise
Past Perfect Continuous vs Other Past Verb Tenses
See Also

Past Perfect Continuous—Uses
Past Perfect Continuous—Affirmative Form
Past Perfect Continuous—Negative Form
Past Perfect Continuous—Question Form
Past Perfect Continuous vs Other Past Verb Tenses

Past Perfect Continuous—Uses

Rules

The past perfect continuous is a verb tense expressing an action that is:

Past—the action is set in the past and has been completed.
Perfect—the action is connected to a previous action or a previous time.
Continuous—the action was in progress for a certain duration in the past.

The past perfect continuous tense is used for actions that began in the past and continued up to a point in the past.

A proper implied or explicit context is necessary when using this verb tense.

The present perfect continuous is commonly used to:

Indicate the duration of a past action before a moment or event in the past.

Timeline indicating the duration of an action.

Make a connection between past events, to explain the effect/result one action had on another (cause & effect).

Timeline indicating a cause pointing to an effect.

Examples

The duration of a past action

Raphael, the painter, walking in Leonardo da Vinci’s workshop while da Vinci is working on his helicopter prototype.

At the moment Raphael dropped by, the duration of the work had reached one week

The effect an action had a particular moment in the past

Leonardo da Vinci and his buddy, Raphael, talking about Leonardo working too much.

Leo had been feeling tired because he has worked too much lately.

Changing the Emphasis of a Past Perfect Continuous Sentence

Tips

Certain sentence elements can change the emphasis of a past perfect continuous sentence.

These keywords are commonly used:

for	since	when
before	because	how long

Here are 3 tips on how to change the emphasis:

Duration Emphasis

To emphasize the duration in a past perfect continuous sentence, use:

the words for or since with a time expression
the question word how long

Leonardo da Vinci tidying up his workshop when Raphael drops by to pick him up. Below there is the sentence: “Leo had been cleaning up his workroom for hours when Raphael came to pick him up.”

The mention of for hours points to the duration of the action.

Order of Events Emphasis

To emphasize the order of events in a past perfect continuous sentence, use:

the words before or since
at least 2 events

Leonardo da Vinci tidying up his workshop when Raphael drops by to pick him up. Below there is the sentence: “Leo had been cleaning up his workroom before Raphael came to pick him up.”

The mention of before points to the order in which the actions occurred.

Cause and Effect Emphasis

To emphasize the cause and effect/result in a past perfect continuous sentence, use:

the words when or because
no time expressions

The effect or result is often implied in the context: it is not necessarily mentioned.

Leonardo da Vinci tidying up his workshop when Raphael drops by to pick him up. Below there is the sentence: “Leo had been cleaning up his workroom when Raphael came to pick him up.”

Possible implied effect or result:

the workroom is cleaner than before
Leo is covered in dust and cobwebs

Stative Verb Continuous Form

Be careful!

Stative verbs refer to states of being, emotions, opinions, preferences or senses. They are not action verbs.

Stative verbs aren’t typically used in continuous tenses since they show the state of the subject.

Don’t X	Do ✔
Leo had been knowing how to tell stories. X → The knowledge is not ongoing, you either know or don’t know.	Leo knew how to tell stories. ✔ → He had the knowledge in his lifetime (1542-1519)
Leo had been wanting to make a man fly. X → To want is not ongoing, you either want to do something or don’t.	Leo had wanted to make a man fly. ✔ → It was a goal he had.

Past Perfect Continuous—Affirmative Form

Rules

Points to remember when forming affirmative sentences in the past perfect continuous:

Place the auxiliary verbs had after the subject.
Place the auxiliary verb been before the main verb.
Use the continuous form of the verb (verb + ing).

Past perfect continuous affirmative form.

Example

Leonardo da Vinci about to shoot a turtle in the air while Raphael is waiting to catch it.

Raphael had been encouraging Leo in his pursuit of knowledge.

Past Perfect Continuous Affirmative Form Exercise

Past Perfect Continuous—Negative Form

Rules

Points to remember when forming negative sentences in the past perfect continuous:

Place the auxiliary verbs had after the subject.
Place the function word not between the auxiliaries.
Place the auxiliary verb been before the main verb.
Use the continuous form of the verb (verb + ing).

Example

Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael trying to convince a turtle to try their flight test again.

The research had not been progressing as well as they thought.

Contracted form*:
The research hadn’t been progressing as well as they thought.

*The contracted negative form is accepted in some formal contexts.

Past Perfect Continuous Negative Form Exercise

Past Perfect Continuous—Question Form

Rules

Points to remember when forming questions in the past perfect continuous:

Start with the auxiliary had for yes/no questions.
Place the auxiliary been after the subject.
Use the continuous form of the verb (verb + ing).

For information questions only:

Start with a question word.

Past perfect continuous yes/no question and information question forms.

Example

A kid explaining to Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael that turtles don’t fly: birds do.

Why had they been using turtles in the first place?

Contracted form*:
Why’d they been using turtles in the first place?

*The contracted question form is used only in informal contexts.

Past Perfect Continuous Question Forms Exercise

Past Perfect Continuous vs Other Past Verb Tenses

Tips

There are differences between the simple past, the past continuous, the past perfect and the past perfect continuous.

Using the past perfect continuous requires the right context. It isn’t used as frequently as the other past tenses.

Simple Past	Past Continuous	Past Perfect	Past Perfect Continuous
set in the past single completed action	set in the past a past interrupted action a past action in progress at a specific time past simultaneous actions	set in the past a past action before another past action duration of a past action	set in the past duration of a past action before or up to a moment in time effect or result of a past action on another past action or event

Example

Here are some examples to show possible uses and differences between each past tense.

Simple Past

Leo painted the wall last night.

Leonardo da Vinci looking at the wall he finished painting.

A single completed action

The wall is covered in paint.

Past Continuous

Leo was painting the wall when the pizza arrived.

Leonardo da Vinci painting a wall when the pizza delivery arrives.

Past interrupted action

The pizza arrived, interrupting the painting Leo was doing.

Past action in progress at a specific time

The painting was still in progress at the moment the pizza arrived.

Past Perfect

Leo had painted the walls before he built a bookcase

Leonardo da Vinci tidying up after building a bookcase.

Past action before another past action

Action 1: Leo painted the walls.
Action 2: Leo built a bookcase.