Past Perfect Continuous Tense: Definition, Rules and Useful Examples • 7ESL

Contents

The reference is about the Past Perfect Continuous Tense. It covers how to use this tense, adverbs of time, and includes a helpful tense chart. You will learn how to construct sentences using the past perfect continuous tense. This guide includes important rules to ensure your grammar is correct.

Past Perfect Continuous Tense

The Past Perfect Continuous Tense talks about an action that started in the past and continued up until another point in the past.

Positive Sentence:

S + had + been + V-ing (present participle) +…

Example:

They had been playing tennis.

Negative Sentence:

S + had not/ hadn’t + been +V-ing (present participle) +…

Example:

They hadn’t been playing tennis.

Question Form:

Had + S + been + V-ing (present participle)?

Example:

Had they been playing tennis?

How to Use the Past Perfect Continuous Tense?

Learn how and when to use the Past Perfect Continuous Tense (Past Perfect Progressive) in English with helpful grammar rules, examples and ESL worksheets.

The Past Perfect Progressive is used:

To describe a past action, already started and continued up to another action or time in the past

Example:

The boys had been playing soccer for about an hour when it started to rain.

To express the duration before something in the past

Example:

Richard needed a holiday because he had been working hard for six months.

To describe the cause of something in the past

Example:

He was tired because he had been jogging.

When to Use Past Perfect Continuous

Past Perfect Continuous tense is used to describe actions that were happening over a period of time in the past before another past action.

Duration of Past Actions

This tense often expresses how long an action had been going on before something else happened. For example, “She had been studying for three hours before dinner.” It highlights the length of an activity that occurred before a specific moment or event in the past.

Common words: for, since

Example: “They had been playing soccer for two hours before it started to rain.”

Interrupted Actions

It describes an ongoing action that was happening in the past and was interrupted by another past event. For example, “They had been waiting for the bus when it started to rain.” This tense shows what someone was doing up until a point when something else happened.

Common words: when, by the time

Example: “He had been reading a book when the phone rang.”

Cause of Past Events

Sometimes, this tense explains the cause of something in the past. For example, “He was tired because he had been working all day.” It emphasizes the reason for a past condition or situation.

Common words: because, so

Example: “She was hungry because she had been working without a break.”

Adverbs of Time

When learning the past perfect continuous tense, certain words help identify when to use it.

Since
For
By the time
Before
Until

These words highlight actions that started in the past and continued until a specific time.

Examples

She had been waiting since morning.
They had been studying for hours.

Sentence structure often includes:

A main clause (e.g., “she had been waiting”)
A time reference (e.g., “since morning”)

Exercises and Practice

Practicing the Past Perfect Continuous Tense helps strengthen your grasp of its usage.

Fill in the Blanks

She __________ (work) at the company for five years before she got promoted.
They __________ (play) football for an hour when it started raining.

Rewrite Sentences

He was tired because he had been walking all day.
- Rewrite: He __________ (be) tired because he __________ (walk) all day.
We were late because we had been waiting for the bus.
- Rewrite: We __________ (be) late because we __________ (wait) for the bus.