Past Perfect Continuous Tense
Past Perfect Continuous Tense
Let’s study The Past Perfect Continuous Tense Now:
Look at the following example:
Tom had been studying for two hours before his friend came.
Event in progress:studying. WHEN? before another event in the past. How long? for two hours
The Past Perfect Continuous Tense
The Form:
| Subject + HAD + BEEN + Verb-ING |
|---|
The Use:
1. The Past Perfect Continuous tense emphasizes the duration of an activity that was in progress before another activity in the past.
Look at the examples below:
- The police had been looking for the criminal for two years before they caught him.
- Eric finally came at six o’clock. I had been waiting for him since four-thirty.
2. This tense also may express an ectivity in progress close in time to another activity or time in the past.
- When Judy got home, her hair was still wet because she had been swimming.
- I went to Jane’s house after the funeral. Her eyes were red because she had been crying.
