Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 197 views

    Past Perfect Continuous Theory

    Uploaded by

    Skruzdelyte Miela
    The document discusses the past perfect continuous tense in English. It is formed using "had" + "been" + the present participle. It is used to describe an action that started in the past and continued up until another time in the past. Two main uses are to indicate the duration of an action before something else in the past, or to show the cause of something that happened in the past. Examples are provided to illustrate the different uses and forms of the past perfect continuous tense.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Past Perfect Continuous Theory

    Uploaded by

    Skruzdelyte Miela
    197 views2 pages
    The document discusses the past perfect continuous tense in English. It is formed using "had" + "been" + the present participle. It is used to describe an action that started in the past and continued up until another time in the past. Two main uses are to indicate the duration of an action before something else in the past, or to show the cause of something that happened in the past. Examples are provided to illustrate the different uses and forms of the past perfect continuous tense.

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    The document discusses the past perfect continuous tense in English. It is formed using "had" + "been" + the present participle. It is used to describe an action that started in the past and continued up until another time in the past. Two main uses are to indicate the duration of an action before something else in the past, or to show the cause of something that happened in the past. Examples are provided to illustrate the different uses and forms of the past perfect continuous tense.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    197 views2 pages

    Past Perfect Continuous Theory

    Uploaded by

    Skruzdelyte Miela
    The document discusses the past perfect continuous tense in English. It is formed using "had" + "been" + the present participle. It is used to describe an action that started in the past and continued up until another time in the past. Two main uses are to indicate the duration of an action before something else in the past, or to show the cause of something that happened in the past. Examples are provided to illustrate the different uses and forms of the past perfect continuous tense.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    Past Perfect Continuous Forms

    The past perfect continuous is formed using had + been + present participle. Questions are indicated by
    inverting the subject and had. Negatives are made with not

     Statement: You had been waiting there for more than two hours when she finally arrived.
     Question: Had you been waiting there for more than two hours when she finally arrived?
     Negative: You had not been waiting there for more than two hours when she finally arrived.

    Usage:

    1 Duration Before Something in the Past

    T to show that something started in the past and continued up until another time in the past. "For five minutes"
    and "for two weeks" are both durations which can be used with the past perfect continuous. Notice that this is
    related to the present perfect continuous; however, the duration does not continue until now, it stops before
    something else in the past.

    Examples:

     They had been talking for over an hour before Tony arrived.
     She had been working at that company for three years when it went out of business.
     How long had you been waiting to get on the bus?
     Mike wanted to sit down because he had been standing all day at work.
     James had been teaching at the university for more than a year before he left for Asia.
     A: How long had you been studying Turkish before you moved to Ankara?
    B: I had not been studying Turkish very long.

    2 Cause of Something in the Past

    Before another action in the past is a good way to show cause and effect.

    Examples:

     Jason was tired because he had been jogging.


     Sam gained weight because he had been overeating.
     Betty failed the final test because she had not been attending class.

    Past Continuous vs. Past Perfect Continuous

    If you do not include a duration such as "for five minutes," "for two weeks" or "since Friday," many English
    speakers choose to use the past continuous rather than the past perfect continuous. Be careful because this can
    change the meaning of the sentence. Past continuous emphasizes interrupted actions, whereas past perfect
    continuous emphasizes a duration of time before something in the past.

    Examples:
     He was tired because he was exercising so hard.
    This sentence emphasizes that he was tired because he was exercising at that exact moment.
     He was tired because he had been exercising so hard.
    This sentence emphasizes that he was tired because he had been exercising over a period of time. It is
    possible that he was still exercising at that moment OR that he had just finished.

    REMEMBER Non-Continuous Verbs / Mixed Verbs

    It is important to remember that Stative Verbs cannot be used in any continuous tenses. Instead of using past
    perfect continuous with these verbs, you must use past perfect.

    Examples:

     The motorcycle had been belonging to George for years before Tina bought it. Not Correct
     The motorcycle had belonged to George for years before Tina bought it. Correct

    ADVERB PLACEMENT

    The examples below show the placement for grammar adverbs such as: always, only, never, ever, still, just, etc.

    Examples:

     You had only been waiting there for a few minutes when she arrived.
     Had you only been waiting there for a few minutes when she arrived?

    ACTIVE / PASSIVE

    Examples:

     Chef Jones had been preparing the restaurant's fantastic dinners for two years before he moved to
    Paris. Active
     The restaurant's fantastic dinners had been being prepared by Chef Jones for two years before he
    moved to Paris. Passive

    NOTE: Passive forms of the past perfect continuous are not common.

    You might also like