- Events up Until Now
We use the past perfect continuous tense to talk about actions that started in the past, continued in the past and ended at a given point in the past.
- At that time, we had been living in London for two months.
- She hadn’t been studying much before the exam.
- By that time, we had been thinking about moving house for months.
How Long
To talk about how long something had been happening up to a past moment.
- I’d been working for hours without a break, so I stopped and had some coffee.
- The kids had been playing outside for hours when it started to rain.
- They’d been travelling for twenty-four hours when they arrived.
Up Until Now and After
Sometimes, the event or activity continues beyond the specified point of time.
- We’d been travelling for an hour before the radio dropped out, then we played some CDs.
- I’d been studying for ten minutes when I had to put the light on to continue.
- My parents had been living in the same house for twenty years when I took you to meet them for the first time.
For, Since and When
You may have noticed that we use for, since, and when quite often with the present perfect continuous tense.
- They’d been playing since the beginning of the party when they stopped for a break.
- We’d been speaking for an hour before the class began.
- I’d been at the same company since 1990 when I quit.
If you would like to learn how to make the past perfect continuous tense (form),
If you would like to practise using the past perfect continuous tense, (affirmative) please click below.
To practise the past perfect continuous (negative ) please click below.
