The past perfect continuous tense is used to describe actions that were ongoing until a specific point in the past. It places emphasis on the duration of the action and is often the cause of a second action mentioned in the past. The past perfect continuous tense requires the auxiliary verb -be in its past participle form (-been) to be combined with the present participle of a dynamic verb. The present participle form of all verbs (regular and irregular) are formed by adding -ing to their infinitive form. This tense should only be used with dynamic verbs (actions that have a clear beginning and end) not stative verbs (actions that describe states).

Note: Some stative verbs have both a stative form and a dynamic form. 

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This tense is used: 

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1) To describe an action that began in the past and continued to a specific point in the past.

2) To describe describe the cause of second action in the past. 

3) To emphasize the duration of an action before being interrupted by another past event. 

4) To describe repeated actions in the past. 

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Time Expressions 

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The past perfect continuous tense is often used with the words -for, -when, -since, and -before. It is not necessary to always mention a past time expression when using a past tense if the context of the past was already established by a previous statement or question in a conversation. 

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​Formation - Affirmative Statements and Questions 

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The past perfect continuous is formed using the verb -have in the simple past tense (had) followed by the verb -be in its past participle form (-been) and the present participle of a dynamic verb. Questions begin with the verb -have in the simple past tense (had) placed before the subject followed by the verb -be in its past participle form (-been) and the present participle of a dynamic verb.

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Structure used to form affirmative statements in the past perfect continuous​

​Subject + had been + present participle of a verb

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Structure used to form affirmative questions in the past perfect continuous​

Had + ​subject + been + present participle of a verb

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Examples:

Ex: I had been reading a book when my brother arrived. 

Ex: They'd been playing basketball all morning. 

Ex: The oven was still hot, my sister had been baking bread. 

Ex: We'd been preparing all the snacks before the game started. 

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Formation - Negative Statements and Questions

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The past perfect continuous is formed using the verb -have in the simple past tense (had) followed by the adverb -not, the verb -be in its past participle form (-been), and the present participle of a dynamic verb. Questions begin with the verb -have in the simple past tense (had) placed before the subject followed by the adverb -not, the verb -be in its past participle form (-been), and the present participle of a dynamic verb. Negative questions are meant to express surprise, confirm information, or encourage agreement.

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Structure used to form negative statements in the past perfect continuous​

​Subject + had not been + present participle of a verb

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Structure used to form negative questions in the past perfect continuous​

​Had + ​subject + not been + present participle of a verb

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Examples:

Ex: I hadn't been reviewing the notes before everyone else arrived.

Ex: The plants were very dry, it hadn't been raining a lot lately. 

Ex: We had not been barbequing for long when we ran out of gas for the grill. 

Ex: Thankfully, they had not been shopping at the mall by the time the fire started. 

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Past Perfect Continuous - Uses 

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To describe an action that began in the past and continued to a specific point in the past

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Examples

Ex: I'd been listening to a podcast before I went to school. 

Ex: Martha had been talking to a bank representative for an hour before she hung up. 

Ex: They'd been fixing the roof for 4 hours when they decided to take a break. 

Ex: Had he been playing outside when the snowstorm started?

Ex: She went to the gym after she had been organizing her house for 2 hours. 

Ex: Hadn't they been working out before you met up with them?

Ex: I fell asleep after I had been studying for 3 hours. 

Ex: By the time the airport finally reopened, we hadn't been living there anymore. 

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To describe describe the cause of second action in the past

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Examples

Ex: I was out of breath, I had been jogging for half an hour.

Ex: His hand was bleeding, he'd been punching a brick wall in anger. 

Ex: She hadn't been sleeping well, she looked exhausted when I saw her. 

Ex: They seemed cheerful, had they been having a lot of fun? 

Ex: We were covered in mud, we'd been hiking through a swamp. 

Ex: Hadn't Mark been fixing the roof? His hands were covered in tar. 

Ex: The government hadn't been sending out social security payments, a lot of people were desperate. 

Ex: My friend gained weight because he hadn't been dieting. 

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To emphasize the duration of an action before being interrupted by another past event

Note: It is possible to use the past continuous for this context with the difference being that actions in the past continuous that are interrupted may or may not continue after the interruption. Past perfect continuous actions that are interrupted completely stop after the interruption. 

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Examples

Ex: I had been playing tennis when my wrist broke. 

Ex: They crashed the car when they'd been driving to New Jersey. 

Ex: We hadn't even been waiting 10 minutes when they called us. 

Ex: Had you been recording a video when the battery died? 

Ex: Fortunately, she hadn't been waiting long when someone helped her change her tire.

Ex: My computer had been downloading a video when the power went out. 

Ex: Hadn't Peter been swimming when he pulled a muscle? 

Ex: The movie had been playing for over an hour when the projector failed. ​​

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To describe repeated actions in the past. 

Note: Adverbs and adverb phrases related to frequency are often used in this context such as always, often, constantly, now and then, all the time, occasionally, etc. however they are not always necessary. The past continuous can also be used in this context. 

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Examples

Ex: I had been talking to them every day for a week before I signed the contract. 

Ex: We had been going to the movie theater near our house now and then, but it closed down. 

Ex: They had been searching for a new home for a month before they found a place they were interested in.

Ex: Had he been frequently cutting school? 

Ex: The engine had been stalling all the time until we took it to a mechanic. 

Ex: Hadn't he been making videos on Twitch?

Ex: We'd been buying stocks often before the crash. 

Ex: Katherine and Frank had been taking trips around the world. 

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Past Perfect Continuous - When not to use 

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The past perfect continuous tense should not be used with actions that are sudden and have short durations. Actions that start and finish quickly sound strange in the past continuous because it seems as if we did them repeatedly or that they were ongoing actions when we describe them with this tense. In these cases we should use the simple past instead.  

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Examples​

Ex: I had been crashing into a wall. - incorrect 

I crashed into a wall. 

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Ex: The wing on the toy airplane had been snapping. - incorrect 

The wing on the toy airplane snapped. 

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Ex: Mark had been sending an email.- incorrect 

Mark sent an email. 

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Ex: The young boy had been writing a word on the chalk board. - incorrect 

The young boy wrote a word on the chalk board.

 

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