1. Past Perfect Continuous
Frances’s ELSA Classes
February, 2014

2. The structure of the past perfect
continuous tense is:
subject + helping verb + helping verb + main verb
had
+
been
+
base + ing

3. Here are some examples of the
past perfect continuous tense:
subject
+
I
auxiliary verb
auxiliary verb main verb
had
been
swimming
when I fell.
been
waiting
for ages
+
You
had
-
We
had
not
been
paying
attention
-
It
had
not
been
raining
When I fell
?
Had
you
been
swimming
When you
broke your
leg?
?
Had
It
been
raining
The ground is
wet

4. Uses
• USE 1 Duration Before Something in the Past

5. Uses - DURATION
• A: How long had you been studying English
before you moved to Victoria?
B: I had not been studying English very long.
• (I’d not been studying for very long)

6. Uses
• USE 2 Cause of Something in the Past

7. Uses – CAUSE and effect
• Jason was tired because he had been jogging.
• Sam gained weight because he had been
eating too much.
• Ben failed the final test because he had not
been studying.

8. Present Perfect or Past Perfect
Continuous?
• Tom looks very guilty, I think he’s been
smoking.
• Tom looked guilty, I think he’d been smoking.

9. Don’t forget to use contractions when
you speak!
I had been talking
I’d been talking
You had been talking
You’d been talking
He had been talking
She had been talking
It had been raining
He’d been talking
She’d been talking
It’d been raining
We had been talking
We’d been talking
You had been talking
You’d been talking
They had been talking
They’d been talking

10. THE END
• They believed that Sam had just been having a
very interesting lesson on the Past Perfect
Continuous: