Past perfect continuous
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Past perfect continuous exercises + PDF worksheets
PDF exercises to download for free:
- The plane landed at the airport. What had passengers been doing before it landed?
Mr. Clark ___. (read a newspaper)
Mr. Clark had been reading a newspaper.
- Respond to situations.
Why were you so red?
Because I ___ before we met. (jog)
- Complete the lines with one of the options:
I had been using that phone for a year ___ .
(when I bought it | when it stopped working)
- Use words in brackets to make questions:
How long ___ before you crashed? (you - drive)
How long had you been driving before you crashed?
- Complete short conversations with affirmative, negative and question forms.
Compare:
Past perfect simple vs. continuous PDF worksheets
- Practise the difference between the simple and continuous forms.
Online exercises with answers:
Past perfect continuous exercise 1
- Complete the sentences with the verbs in brackets.
Past perfect continuous exercise 2
- Choose the verbs from the list to complete short dialogues.
Past perfect continuous exercise 3 (multiple choice)
- Choose the correct answers to complete the sentences.
Past perfect simple vs. continuous exercises
- Practise the difference.
Compare:
- Exercises with answers to learn the simple form.
Grammar rules PDF:
Past perfect simple + continuous rules PDF Grammar rules with examples.
English tenses PDF Grammar rules on all English tenses.
English grammar PDF All PDF rules on e-grammar.org.
Past perfect continuous
We make the past perfect continuous with had been + present participle (-ing form), e.g. working, trying, writing, singing.
Positive statement: I had been doing (I'd been doing)
Negative statement: She had not been working (She hadn't been working)
Question form: Had you been sleeping?
Negative question: Had they not been jogging? (Hadn't they been jogging?)
Use
The past perfect continuous is used for activities that began before a point in time and were still continuing at that point.
Last summer Josh had been renovating his house for two years.
How long had you been practising when you won your first tournament?
We hadn't been living in San Francisco for more than two years before little Sarah was born.
We use it for actions that began before a point in time in the past and just finished at that point.
I had been driving all day. I was so tired when I parked my car in front of the hotel.
We'd been waiting for George for ages before he appeared at the door.
How long had you been working for the company when you changed your job?
Note:
The past perfect continous is very similar to the present perfect continuous. The difference is, however, that in the present perfect continuous we refer to the present times.
Present perfect continuous:
I have been practising since the morning.
(I am still practising.)
Past perfect continuous:
At 11 o'clock I had been practising for two hours.
(I began some time before eleven o'clock and at eleven o'clock I was still practising.)
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- All PDF exercises and grammar rules from this website.