Past Perfect continuous Tense
Perfect Continuous Tense - Duration with specified time.
Time has to be mentioned in this tense because this tense tells the starting point of time of work and duration of work until it is/was/will being continued.
USE 1: Duration of an action before something else/another action in past.
This tense is used to show that an action started in the past and continued till another action/time in past.
She had been sleeping for three hours before her mother arrived.
She had been sleeping - an action started in the past
for three hours - duration of time
Before her mother arrived - another action.
USE 2: Cause and Effect/ Action and its reaction
This tense is the best way to express cause and efect in past.
Saima got first position in final examination because she had been hardworking for six months.
Because She had been hardworking - Cause / Action
for six months - duration of an action
Saima got first position - Effect / reaction
Singular subject I, He, She, It, Any Name and Plural Subject: We, They
| Nature of Sentence | Structure of tense with example. |
|---|---|
| Positive | S + Had been + verb(ing) + O. |
| Negative | S + Had + Not + been + verb(ing) + O. |
| Interogative | Had + S + been + verb(ing) + O. |
| Interogative negative | Had + S + Not + been + verb(ing) + O. |
List of Tenses
Present Tenses
- Present Indefinite/simple Tense
- Present Continuous Tense
- Present Perfect Tense
- Present Perfect Continuous Tense
Past Tense
Future Tense