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Past Perfect Continuous - Rules and exercises for intermediate level

Wednesday, 02 December 2009
Example of past perfect continuous: Had you been swimming? Example of past perfect continuous: Had you been swimming? This image is licensed under the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license

An overview of the present perfect simple tense explains what rules you need to follow when using this tense, with examples and exercises to help you learn. This online lesson in English grammar is designed for intermediate students.

Form of the past perfect continuous

The Past Perfect Continuous is formed by had + been + -ing form.

Past perfect continuous: positive and negative

I / You

She / He / It

We / You / They

'd (had)

hadn't

been working.

Past perfect continous: question

Had

I /You

She / He / It

We / You / They

been swimming?

Use of the past perfect continuous

The Past Perfect Continuous is used to talk about continuous actions that began and finish in the past before another action in the past.

  • Susan was very tired. She had been running.
  • I'm angry. I have been waiting for two hours.
  • He said he wasn't tired because he hadn't been working that day.
  • Jason was tired because he had been jogging.
  • How long had you been studying Spanish before you moved to Madrid?
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published in Past Perfect Tense
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Last modified on Sunday, 05 February 2017 22:42

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