Past perfect continuous

1. Past perfect continuous

It had been raining for 15 minutes, so they decided to call of the match.

His face was dirty because he had been eating chocolate.

2. How is the past perfect continuous built?

• Affirmative form

  Subject	AuxiliarY	Been	Verb(ing)	Examples
  I	had 'd	been	travelling	I had been travelling all night.
  You				You had been travelling all night.
  He				He had been travelling all night.
  She				She had been travelling all night.
  It				It had been travelling all night.
  We				We had been travelling all night.
  You				You had been travelling all night.
  They				They had been travelling all night.

• Negative form
  

  Subject	AuxiliarY	Been	Verb(ing)	Examples
  I	hadn't had not	been	travelling	I hadn't been travelling all night.
  You				You hadn't been travelling all night.
  He				He hadn't been travelling all night.
  She				She hadn't been travelling all night.
  It				It hadn't been travelling all night.
  We				We hadn't been travelling all night.
  You				You hadn't been travelling all night.
  They				They hadn't been travelling all night.

• Interrogative form
  

  AuxiliarY	Subject	Been	Verb(ing)	Examples
  Had	I	been	travelling?	Had I been travelling all night?
  	you			Had you been travelling all night?
  	he			Had he been travelling all night?
  	she			Had she been travelling all night?
  	it			Had it been travelling all night?
  	we			Had we been travelling all night?
  	you			Had you been travelling all night?
  	they			Had they been travelling all night?

  Interrogative sentences in past perfect continuous also have their own short answers.

  Adverb	Subject	AuxiliarY
  Yes,	I	had
  	you
  	he
  	she
  	it
  	we
  	you
  	they

  Adverb	Subject	AuxiliarY
  No,	I	hadn't
  	you
  	he
  	she
  	it
  	we
  	you
  	they

  - Had you been working in the Smiths' garden that day?

  - Yes, I had.

3. How do we use the past perfect continuous?

The past perfect continuous is used for:

• An action that began at a specific time in the past and continued until another specific point in the past or until another action took place.
  
  How long had he been rehearsing when he took a break?

  In this example the action of rehearsing took place at some point in the past and continued until another particular point in the past (when a break was taken).

  She'd been working in the sales department for two years before she was promoted.

  In this example, the action of working in the sales department continued until another action took place (she was promoted).
• An action that causes another action to take place in the past.
  
  She was tired because she had been skiing.

  I was sleepy because I'd been reading late.

We must remember that the Past Perfect Continuous is not used if the main verb is a state verb.

Remember!