Past Perfect Continuous

• We use the past perfect continuous to talk about an ongoing action that started in the past and continued up to another time in the past. It emphasises the duration of the action.
• Subject
• Auxiliary
• Verb + -ing
• Rest of sentence
• She
• had been
• training
• for months before the race.
• They
• hadn't been
• pacing
• themselves properly.
• Had
• you
• been
• running in Boston?
• Remember
• Use had been + verb-ing for all persons (I, you, he, she, it, we, they).
• Often used with for and since to show how long an action had been happening.
• Focuses on the activity and its duration, not just the finished result.
• Examples
• Brian had been running for three hours when it started to rain.
• Sarah was tired because she had been building up her stamina all week.
• Had you been feeling any pain before you pulled a muscle?
• Common mistakes
• She was running for two hours before she crossed the line.
• She had been running for two hours before she crossed the line.

Complete the sentences

• Mark was exhausted because he (train) ____ hard all morning in Chicago.
• Why (you / run) ____ outside when the storm hit New York?
• Emily felt proud because she (follow) ____ her training plan for months.
• They weren't prepared because they (not pace) ____ themselves during the marathon.
• How long (Kevin / build up) ____ his stamina in Seattle?
• Jessica had a bad blister because her shoes (rub) ____ against her feet.

Sources: photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels