Structure of the Past Perfect Continuous Tense
Combining the past perfect of the verb to be (=had been) with the present participle (base+ing) results in the past perfect continuous tense.
Structure |
Subject |
+had been |
+verb + ing |
Affirmative |
She |
had been |
trying |
Negative | She |
hadn’t been |
sleeping |
Interrogative |
Had you |
been |
eating? |
Past Perfect Continuous Tense
When we want to talk about activities or states of being, we use words that are termed verbs. There are 12 distinct kinds of verb tenses in the English language, and they are used to characterize the various actions and occurrences that can take place. When an action or condition takes place in the past, present, or future depends on the tense of the word. Using the past perfect continuous tense lets us know that an action started in the past, persisted for a period of time, and finally came to a stop before the present day.
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