The Past Perfect Continuous is also the Past Perfect Progressive
Definition: It is used to say that something had been happening before something else happened.
All the actions are completed.
Typical examples
1. They had been working in Egypt for 4 years before we traveled there.
2. Paul complained of headaches because he had been staying awake too late.
3. The flight arrived at 3 pm. They had not been waiting for it until 5 pm.
Exception: We can use the time expressions of ‘for’ and ‘since’ when making sentences in this tense.
The past perfect progressive can be used in the following situations.
- We can use it to discuss past actions that were not completed when another action happened.
Example
We had been working in the new company for 5 weeks before we met the Manager.
They had been running for 4hours every day last year before they applied for the marathon.
My uncle had been teaching in Europe before he met his wife.
- We can use it to show that something started in the past and continued up until another time in the past.
Example
We had been studying for 30 mins before they joined us.
My sister had been cooking since morning because of the birthday party.
The Past Perfect Continuous tense shows cause and effect
Example
We were in danger, so we had not been hunting in the forest.
Past Perfect Progressive Tense Exception
The (be+ing) and know verbs are exceptions in continuous forms.
Examples
Know
Before their wedding, they had known each other for 10 years.
Be
Two months ago, Ronan stopped coming to school. We were surprised because she’d always had the best grades in our class.
Past perfect progressive exercises
1. We (play)…… …. for 2 hours before our parents came back home.
2. How long (live/she) ……. abroad?
3. We took Elizebeth to the park because she (cry) ……to play.
4. Finally, the train came, we (wait) ……. for 15 minutes.
5. John is out of breath because he (run)…….. swimming for 1hour.
6. My Dad was very exhausted yesterday. He (work)……….all day.
7. The chefs at the restaurant(cook)…….. all evening because of the wedding.
8. The airline canceled my flight 2hours ago. I(look)………forward to enjoying my Miami trip.
9. The football tournament just ended. Many people (watch)…….. the matches expectantly.
10. The students in front of the administrative building have been unhappy. The principal (delay)…………… to paste the examination results on the notice board.
11. The players (wait)……. for 5 mins before the Referee blew the final whistle.
12. The date between Peter and Mary ended sadly because of Mary (wait)……. for over 40 mins at the restaurant.
13. When the cricket game began everyone was quiet. For 5 mins after the first goal, a fan (shout) ……… as he cheered his team.
Practice making your own sentences with the following verbs
Travel
Look
Run
Sell
Sit
Sleep
Keep
Walk
Go
Give
Call
Meet
More articles on the Past Simple, Past Progressive and Past Perfect tenses is here.