Past Perfect Continuous Tense
a.
When an action began before the time of
speaking in the past and continued up to that time, or stopped before that we
use past perfect continuous tense.
Example
It was now six and he was
tired because he had been working since dawn.
b.
A repeated action in the past can sometimes
be expressed as a continuous by the past perfect tense.
Example
She had
been trying to get her on the phone.
c.
It emphasizes the duration of an activity
that was in progress before another activity or time in past.
More
Examples
Positive
Sentence
·
He had been helping his relatives.
·
They all had been preparing for the
examination.
·
She had been plucking flowers since
morning.
·
It had been raining for two hours.
·
He had been ploughing for many days.
·
The patient had been taking this medicine
for a month.
·
The cook had been preparing breakfast since
morning.
·
The washer man had been washing clothes for
three hours.
Negative Sentence
·
The girl had not been learning her lesson.
·
He had not been taking exercise regularly.
·
He had not been attending school daily.
·
They had not been taking part in the games.
·
Zahid had not been reading newspaper
regularly.
·
The horses bad not been eating grass.
·
They had not been serving their country.
·
He had not been wasting his time.
Interrogative Sentence
·
Had you been eating sweet mangoes?
·
Had the peon been ringing the bell?
·
Had the juggler been showing his feats?
·
Had the gardener been planting the plants?
·
Had he been singing for two hours?
·
Had it been raining heavily since morning?
·
Had the shopkeeper been giving short
measures?
·
Had the baby been weeping for half an hour?
