Past Perfect Continuous Tense Rules With Examples

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Past Perfect Continuous Tense Rules With Examples

Hello friends! Welcome all of you once again. Today, we are going to study Past Perfect Continuous Tense while continuing the series of Tense. We have already studied three types of past tenses. Hope you have practiced them well too. Today we are going to understand in detail about the fourth type of past tense — Past Perfect Continuous Tense Rules With Examples.

What is Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Past Perfect Continuous Tense : When an action starts at some point in the past and it makes sense to continue in the past. In other words, We can say that when an action starts at some point of time in the past and continues for some time, it is called Past Perfect Continuous Tense.

Friends! Past Perfect Continuous Tense has the qualities of both Past Perfect and Continuous Tense. Past perfect means the completion of an action in the past and Past Continuous means the continuation of an action in the past. So, Past perfect continuous Tense means clear – beginning of any action in the past at any time point and continuing continuously in the past.

To understand this better, let us take some examples :

Singular	Plural
He had been teaching English since 2000.	I had been washing clothes since morning.
She had been studying in Delhi for One years.	We had been cooking food for 5 hours.
Ram had been writing a story since 8 ‘O Clock.	They had been living in Jaipur since 1992.

Read and Learn these points :

Read these examples carefully and try to understand their structure :

We find that in all these sentences, First Form of the Main Verb + “ing” is used after the helping verb.

This is amazing friends! We observe that only one helping verb – “Had been” is used in all the Sentences. So there is absolutely no confusion in this tense.

You should note that since / for is also used at the end of each sentence.

It must clear to you from these three points that the First Form of Verb + ing is used after Helping Verb – Had been in Past Perfect Tense. And finally Since / for is also used. But how ? So let’s try to understand all the rules and structures of Past Perfect Tense with examples :

Important Rules of Past Perfect Continuous Tense :

Friends! Past Perfect Continuous Tense is very easy to understand. Just you have to keep some rules in mind as follows :

Friends! One good thing about Past Perfect Continuous Tense is that it uses only one helping Verb – Had been. Whether the subject is singular or plural. Now you do not need to keep the Subject in mind.

As told to you, it also has the quality of Continuous Tense. Therefore, In this tense “first form of Main Verb + ing.” is used.

The sense of time is also visible in this tense. In this, “Since” is used for point of time (fix or definite time) and “for” is used for period of time (indefinite time).

How to use :

Observe the table given below and remember it :

Helping Verb :	Had been
Main Verb :	Ist Form of Verb + ing

Number	Subjects	Helping Verb
Singular	He, She, It and Single Names	had been
Plural	I, We, You, They and Plural Names.	had been

State of Time	Time	Example
Point of Time	Since	Morning, Noon, Evening, 2 ‘O Clock, January, 2001,
Period of Time	For	5 Hours, 2 Weeks, 6 Months, 1 Years,

With the help of all these rules, you will be able to understand Past Perfect Continuous Tense. Let us now try to understand the structure of all the four types of sentence of this tense :

Types of Past Perfect Continuous Tense :

Friends! The names of the four types of sentences of Past Perfect Continuous Tense are as follows :

Affirmative or Simple Sentence
Negative sentence
Interrogative Sentence
Interrogative Negative Sentence

Affirmative Sentences | Simple Sentence :

Follow the structure given below to create a simple sentence of Past Perfect Continuous Tense :

For Singular and Plural :

Subject + had + been + Ist Form of Verb + ing + Object + Since / for + Time.

For Example :

Singular	Plural
He had been buying a car for 5 hours.	I had been teaching English since 5 ‘O Clock.
She had been washing her dress since evening.	We had been finishing Work for 3 months.
It had been running away for 6 years.	You had been writing a story for 4 weeks.
Saniya had been playing Tennis since 2018.	They had been watching TV since Monday.
Sunny had been cleaning his room since morning.	Sonu and Monu had been speaking English for 5 Years.

Negative Sentence :

Negative means not to be used. In this, not is used between helping verb – had been. Follow the structure given below to create a Negative Sentence of Past Perfect Continuous Tense :

For Singular and Plural :

Subject + had + not + been + Ist Form of Verb + ing + Object + Since / for + Time.

For Example:

Singular	Plural
He had not been buying a car for 5 hours.	I had not been teaching English since 5 ‘O Clock.
She had not been washing her dress since evening.	We had not been finishing Work for 3 months.
It had not been running away for 6 years.	You had not been writing a story for 4 weeks.
Saniya had not been playing Tennis since 2018.	They had not been watching TV since Monday.
Sunny had not been cleaning his room since morning.	Sonu and Monu had not been speaking English for 5 Years.

Interrogative Sentence :

These types of sentences begin with the Helping verb. But note that in helping verb – had been, Had is used before subject and been comes immediately after subject. Don’t forget to use question mark at the end of the sentence.

Follow the structure given below to create an Interrogative Sentence of Past Perfect Continuous Tense :

For Singular and Plural :

Had + Subject + been + Ist Form of Verb + ing + Object + Since / for + Time ?

For Example:

Singular	Plural
Had He been buying a car for 5 hours ?	Had I been teaching English since 5 ‘O Clock ?
Had She been washing her dress since evening ?	Had We been finishing Work for 3 months ?
Had It been running away for 6 years ?	Had You been writing a story for 4 weeks ?
Had Saniya been playing Tennis since 2018 ?	Had They been watching TV since Monday ?
Had Sunny been cleaning his room since morning ?	Had Sonu and Monu been speaking English for 5 Years ?

Interrogative Negative Sentence :

Its structure is the same as that of the interrogative. Because of just being negative, use “not” immediately after the subject and before been and put a question mark at the end.

Follow the structure given below to create an Interrogative Negative Sentence of Past Perfect Continuous Tense :

For Singular and Plural :

Had + Subject + not + been + Ist Form of Verb + ing + Object + Since / for + Time ?

For Example:

Singular	Plural
Had He not been buying a car for 5 hours ?	Had I not been teaching English since 5 ‘O Clock ?
Had She not been washing her dress since evening ?	Had We not been finishing Work for 3 months ?
Had It not been running away for 6 years ?	Had You not been writing a story for 4 weeks ?
Had Saniya not been playing Tennis since 2018 ?	Had They not been watching TV since Monday ?
Had Sunny not been cleaning his room since morning ?	Had Sonu and Monu not been speaking English for 5 Years ?

Golden Structure For Past Perfect Continuous Tense :

Friends! In Golden structure, we are telling you a common structure. Which you can apply to make any of the above Sentences. You only have to keep some rules in mind. It is as follows :

Golden Structure For Past Perfect Continuous Tense :

Subject +

H.V. (had been) +

M.V. (Ist Form + ing) +

Object +

Since / for +

Time.

So friends ! Now you have learned to use Past Perfect Continuous Tense. If seen, this tense is just like present perfect continuous tense. Only the difference of helping verb is visible.

You can easily understand and remember both tenses by comparing them together. Apart from helping verb, you will not need to memorise the rest of the structure and rules separately.