{"id":24498,"date":"2024-10-10T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-10T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/?p=24498"},"modified":"2024-10-14T16:25:52","modified_gmt":"2024-10-14T14:25:52","slug":"past-perfect-continuous-tense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/","title":{"rendered":"Past Perfect Continuous tense"},"content":{"rendered":"

Past Perfect Continuous<\/h1>\n

Similarly to the Past Perfect, the Past Perfect Continuous talks about an activity that started in the past and ended when another event occurred in the past. This tense emphasizes the duration of that activity. In the Past Perfect Continuous, we use the present participle (verb-ing).<\/p>\n

Affirmative sentences in Past Perfect Continuous<\/h2>\n

We form sentences by using the auxiliary verb had,<\/i> the Past Participle form of to be<\/i> (been), and the main verb in the present participle.<\/p>\n

Subject<\/span> + had<\/span> + been<\/span> + verb-ing<\/span> + the rest of the sentence<\/h5>\n
I<\/span> had<\/span> been<\/span> watching<\/span><\/strong> TV before I went to sleep.<\/div>\n

Negative sentences in Past Perfect Continuous<\/h2>\n

We form negative sentences by adding not<\/i> after had<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Subject<\/span> + had<\/span> + not<\/span> + been<\/span> + verb-ing<\/span> + the rest of the sentence<\/h5>\n
I<\/span> had<\/span> not<\/span> been<\/span> watching<\/span><\/strong> TV before I went to sleep.<\/div>\n

Questions in Past Perfect Continuous<\/h2>\n

Questions in Past Perfect Continuous are formed by inversion of had<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Had<\/span> + subject<\/span> + been<\/span> + verb-ing<\/span> + the rest of the sentence<\/h5>\n
Had<\/span> you<\/span> been<\/span> watching<\/span><\/strong> TV before you went to sleep?<\/div>\n
\n
The Usage of Past Perfect Continuous<\/h5>\n

We use the Past Perfect Continuous to talk about:<\/p>\n

+ duration of past activity that ended when something occurred in the past<\/b><\/div>\n
I had been sleeping for two hours when Adam woke me up.
\nJohn had been studying English for three years before he moved to the USA last winter.<\/div>\n
+ the cause of something happening in the past<\/b><\/div>\n
She was late to work because she had been playing games until late.
\nWe were very hungry because we had been exploring the city without taking a break.<\/div>\n
+ unreal actions in the past (with the use of the third conditional)<\/b><\/div>\n
If I hadn\u2019t been spending so much money, I would have been in the black now.
\nI would have been a lawyer if I had been studying seriously in school.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Other Past Tenses in English<\/h3>\n
Past Simple<\/a>
\nPast Continuous<\/a>
\nPast Perfect<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

\"ELLA?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Past Perfect Continuous Similarly to the Past Perfect, the Past Perfect Continuous talks about an activity that started in the past and ended when another event occurred in the past. This tense emphasizes the duration of that activity. In the Past Perfect Continuous, we use the present participle (verb-ing). Affirmative sentences in Past Perfect Continuous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":15201,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14349,57],"tags":[14355],"class_list":["post-24498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-englishblog","category-grammar","tag-english-tenses"],"yoast_head":"\nPast Perfect Continuous tense | English tenses | ELLA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Understand the Past Perfect Continuous tense. Learn how to describe actions that were ongoing before a specific time in the past.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"pl_PL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Past Perfect Continuous tense\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Understand the Past Perfect Continuous tense. Learn how to describe actions that were ongoing before a specific time in the past.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ELLA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-10-10T05:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-10-14T14:25:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/past_perfect_continuous_blogT.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"770\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"551\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Teacher5\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Napisane przez\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Teacher5\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Szacowany czas czytania\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minuty\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Teacher5\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e7420a07ca5f6ddc1469c281ebb25086\"},\"headline\":\"Past Perfect Continuous tense\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-10-10T05:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-14T14:25:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/\"},\"wordCount\":319,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/past_perfect_continuous_blogT.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"English tenses\"],\"articleSection\":[\"English blog\",\"Grammar\"],\"inLanguage\":\"pl-PL\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/\",\"name\":\"Past Perfect Continuous tense | English tenses | ELLA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/past_perfect_continuous_blogT.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-10-10T05:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-14T14:25:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e7420a07ca5f6ddc1469c281ebb25086\"},\"description\":\"Understand the Past Perfect Continuous tense. Learn how to describe actions that were ongoing before a specific time in the past.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"pl-PL\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"pl-PL\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/past_perfect_continuous_blogT.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/past_perfect_continuous_blogT.jpg\",\"width\":770,\"height\":551,\"caption\":\"Past Perfect Continuous\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Strona g\u0142\u00f3wna\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Past Perfect Continuous tense\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"ELLA\",\"description\":\"Nauka j\u0119zyka angielskiego\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"pl-PL\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e7420a07ca5f6ddc1469c281ebb25086\",\"name\":\"Teacher5\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"pl-PL\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6ff0f154454f9dd9b1e6e53534d24370794a6885536632c0e0307f4bb34e4060?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6ff0f154454f9dd9b1e6e53534d24370794a6885536632c0e0307f4bb34e4060?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Teacher5\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Past Perfect Continuous tense | English tenses | ELLA","description":"Understand the Past Perfect Continuous tense. Learn how to describe actions that were ongoing before a specific time in the past.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/","og_locale":"pl_PL","og_type":"article","og_title":"Past Perfect Continuous tense","og_description":"Understand the Past Perfect Continuous tense. Learn how to describe actions that were ongoing before a specific time in the past.","og_url":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/","og_site_name":"ELLA","article_published_time":"2024-10-10T05:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-10-14T14:25:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":770,"height":551,"url":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/past_perfect_continuous_blogT.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Teacher5","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Napisane przez":"Teacher5","Szacowany czas czytania":"3 minuty"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/"},"author":{"name":"Teacher5","@id":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e7420a07ca5f6ddc1469c281ebb25086"},"headline":"Past Perfect Continuous tense","datePublished":"2024-10-10T05:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-10-14T14:25:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/"},"wordCount":319,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/past_perfect_continuous_blogT.jpg","keywords":["English tenses"],"articleSection":["English blog","Grammar"],"inLanguage":"pl-PL"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/","url":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/","name":"Past Perfect Continuous tense | English tenses | ELLA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/past_perfect_continuous_blogT.jpg","datePublished":"2024-10-10T05:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-10-14T14:25:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e7420a07ca5f6ddc1469c281ebb25086"},"description":"Understand the Past Perfect Continuous tense. Learn how to describe actions that were ongoing before a specific time in the past.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"pl-PL","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"pl-PL","@id":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/past_perfect_continuous_blogT.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/past_perfect_continuous_blogT.jpg","width":770,"height":551,"caption":"Past Perfect Continuous"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/past-perfect-continuous-tense\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Strona g\u0142\u00f3wna","item":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Past Perfect Continuous tense"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/","name":"ELLA","description":"Nauka j\u0119zyka angielskiego","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"pl-PL"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e7420a07ca5f6ddc1469c281ebb25086","name":"Teacher5","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"pl-PL","@id":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6ff0f154454f9dd9b1e6e53534d24370794a6885536632c0e0307f4bb34e4060?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6ff0f154454f9dd9b1e6e53534d24370794a6885536632c0e0307f4bb34e4060?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Teacher5"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24498"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25229,"href":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24498\/revisions\/25229"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ellalanguage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}