Past Perfect Continuous Tense: Complete Guide with Examples

What is the Past Perfect Continuous tense?

The Past Perfect Continuous, alternatively called Past Perfect Progressive, is an advanced tense used to describe actions that were ongoing in the past and completed before another past event.

Past Perfect Continuous Tense structure 1

Let’s go through its usage step by step and find out how intuitive it is.

Past Perfect Continuous tense examples:

By the time the flight was cancelled, we had been waiting for three hours.

I had been shopping online for two hours when I noticed that I had no money.

He had been doing the project for months before they fired him.

I went home tired because I had been calling a customer all afternoon.

She had been learning Korean for six years before she passed the test.

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Past Perfect Continuous tense formula

The structure of a sentence in the Past Perfect Continuous tense is formed by had been + a verb with –ing ending. Let’s unfold the meaning of each bit:

Particle of the formula	Function	Examples
Had	The same form is used with each subject pronoun, whether it is she, I, or we.	I had been waiting. She had been working. We had been discussing it.
Been	The third (past participle) form of the word to be that appears in each sentence, whether it is positive, negative, or a question. It connects the tense marker to the action.	I had been working on a project. They hadn’t been running. Had he been reading?
Verb+ing	The main verb is in its continuous form, emphasizing the ongoing nature of a sentence.	His colleagues had been preparing a report. My sister had been looking for a job. Her friends had been booking tickets.

Tip:

The examples here are zoomed in to focus on the structure. The whole construction always requires a context.

When to use the Past Perfect Continuous in English?

The Past Perfect Progressive helps you to describe the situation or action that happened in the past and continued until another moment in the past, or an action that showed results in the past.

Examples of Past Perfect Continuous tense usage:

Usage	Examples
Actions that were ongoing before another past event	I had been studying for three hours when my mom came home.
Cause-and-effect sentences	She had been writing her novel all night, so her eyes were red.
One action was interrupted by another in the past, with the focus on duration	I had been working out for two hours when the lights cut off.
Pointing habits or lasting actions in the past	They had been living in Seoul for four years before they moved to Busan.

Past Perfect Continuous tense markers include:

Time indicators	Examples
for	She had been listening to music for three hours before I came home.
since	He had been dieting since last month before he went to the doctor.
all day	I had been thinking about my book all day when the idea suddenly came to me.
by the time	They had been developing bad habits by the time they undermined their health.
before	We had been learning English for three years before moving to Cambridge.
until	She had been buying new clothes until her closet was packed.

Tip:

The Past Perfect Continuous tense sentences with until can be used in various situations. For example, it shows the endpoint.

To help you determine which time marker to use in a given context, we have highlighted the most common matches and emphasized their specific use:

How to use this tense?

Here is a breakdown of Past Perfect Continuous tense rules that will help you learn English more productively. It will introduce ways of forming positive sentences, questions, including WH-variations and Yes/No interrogations, as well as negatives.

Affirmative sentences

To form a positive sentence, use had been + the verb with -ing form. Such a Past Perfect Continuous tense structure may seem hard, but it’s simple once you get it, so here is the visualization:

Let’s review how such examples of Past Perfect Continuous are formed according to full and short (more conversational):

Subject	Full form	Short form
I	I was tired because I had been playing Minecraft all morning.	I was tired because I’d been playing Minecraft all morning.
You	You had been organizing your schedule all evening when you received a notification.	You’d been organizing your schedule all evening when you received a notification.
He/she/it	It didn’t matter that he had been staying at the hostel for a while.	It didn’t matter that he’d been staying at the hostel for a while.
We	We were upset because he had been ignoring us for days.	We were upset because he’d been ignoring us for days.
They	They had been visiting our library daily and hadn’t found anything.	They’d been visiting our library daily and hadn’t found anything.
You (plural)	You had been investing money for several years before you found a profitable strategy.	You’d been investing money for several years before you found a profitable strategy.

Negative sentences

Speaking about something that has not truly happened, you need to use the Past Perfect Continuous formula, where you place not after had, and add been or use the short form hadn’t been for casual communication.

Past Perfect Continuous formula for negative sentences 1

Let’s take a look at the Past Perfect continuous tense usage across negative sentences from real-life situations for more experience:

Full form	Short form
He had not been conducting his research until the deadline was set.	He hadn’t been conducting his research until the deadline was set.
She had not been challenging herself before her therapist told her it was important.	She hadn’t been challenging herself before her therapist told her it was important.
The cat had not been playing with the keyboard until the woman came into the room.	The cat hadn’t been playing with the keyboard until the woman came into the room.
I had not been talking to strangers before I met her.	I hadn’t been talking to strangers before I met her.
He had not been winning awards for a few years before he joined this company.	He hadn’t been winning awards for a few years before he joined this company.
They had not been attending the gym until they decided to do it together.	They hadn’t been attending the gym until they decided to do it together.

Questions

Here, you put had or had not (hadn’t) at the beginning of your sentence, add the subject + been and the verb with -ing form.

Past Perfect Continuous formula for Questions 1

Yes/No questions

Let’s review some Past Perfect Continuous examples:

Question	Answer
Had you been thinking about being a manager before receiving this offer?	Yes, I had been thinking about being a manager before receiving this offer.
Hadn’t your father been working in this bank for decades before it went bankrupt?	Yes, he had been working in this bank for decades before it went bankrupt.
Had she been missing lectures before she dropped out of college?	No, she hadn’t been missing lectures before she dropped out of college.

Wh-questions

Examples of Wh-word questions:

Question	Answer
How long had you been practicing before you became a singer?	I had been practicing for five years before I became a singer.
What had you been doing before you moved into this apartment?	I had been staying at my friend’s before I moved into this apartment.
Why had she been arguing before the conference started?	She had been arguing about her name on the presentation before the conference started.

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Common mistakes

The Past Perfect Continuous tense definition is not the easiest, so making mistakes is OK even for advanced learners. Still, you can avoid them if you know the most challenging areas of this grammar.

Confusing Past Perfect Continuous structure with Past Continuous

Past Perfect Progressive needs the phrasal adverbs that highlight the duration, which you can find in the section Where to use, in the time expressions table.

Incorrect	Correct
I had been reading her report when my boss called me from the office.	I was reading her report when my boss called me from the office.
He had been buying stuff online at 12 a.m. last night.	He was buying stuff online at 12 a.m. last night.

Tip:

Remember to check for a clear time marker in sentences.

Misplacing time markers

Some people use since, for, until, and others in the wrong contexts. Here are some sentences.

Incorrect	Correct
We had been waiting since 6 hours before you drove here!	We had been waiting for 6 hours before you drove here!
She had been learning how to play a guitar for 2009 before she joined the band.	She had been learning how to play a guitar since 2009 before she joined the band.

Tips for mastering

Past Perfect Progressive is not as common as simple tenses, and has a more advanced structure. Don’t worry, though, because below you will find a brief list of points that will allow you to hack this grammar and use it naturally when passing international exams:

Tip 1. Cover every grammar aspect

Write sentences with positive, negative, and question forms in equal proportion to ensure that you are able to recall each of them when you need to, and also dedicate enough time to nuances in the section Where to use…) to understand each nuance of this tense.

Tip 2. Pretend you want to write a bestseller

Take a pen and a notebook and write the most vivid descriptions with multiple details, taking into account the cause and effect of things and the durability of actions in the past that influenced your characters’ lives. A personal touch will allow you to experience the rules and learn all the tenses in English grammar.

Tip 3. Practice with time expressions

Think of what you had been doing before a specific period of time in the past, or what you had been creating for several hours by the time something happened. In our guide, you have seen various examples with time indicators. They are a great base to make your own sentences.

Tip 4. Read fictional literature

Movies and videos are fine, but a really fascinating resource where you can encounter countless structures with the tense is books. Consider rereading Twilight, The Hunger Games, and The Fourth Wing in English, but focus on the formulas, contexts, and the frequency of the Past Perfect Continuous tense occurrence on pages.

Tip 5. Do exercises to spot weak areas

Interactive drills, such as those found on the Koto English platform, will help you quickly pass a test to determine whether you have grasped the topic or need to go over some aspects again with more attention.

Summary

For now, you know all the details about the Past Perfect Continuous and can improve your writing regarding describing tiny time aspects that mean a lot for an interesting story. Continue polishing your skills and move on to comparing particulars of different tenses’ usage.

Past Perfect Continuous tense FAQ

Can I use time expressions like "all day" or "for hours" with this tense?

Absolutely, you can. These expressions are frequently used when you want to emphasize that you had been doing something for all day or for hours by the time something occurred.

Time marker	Examples
All day	Our company had been working on the product for years before it brought in our first revenue.
For hours	I had been listening to one song for hours before I became bored.

Can I use stative verbs in the Past Perfect Continuous tense?

It depends. Since stative verbs can’t usually take the -ing form, it’s better to choose the Present Perfect when describing something you hate, love, know, or believe. For example:

Incorrect	Correct
I had not been understanding him since high school.	I had not understood him since high school.

Still, some of these verbs can be used in the -ing form if they indicate the action, such as:

He had been having troubles with this project until we joined the group.

Past Perfect Continuous vs. Past Continuous?

Past Continuous describes the action that was ongoing at a specific time in the past (6 p.m., 7 a.m., in the morning) as well as simultaneous and interrupted actions.

I was studying information about scholarships in the morning.

While Past Perfect Progressive is used to stress the duration of an action (all day, two weeks, five hours) before something else happened.

My husband had been volunteering at a charity event for three hours when I arrived.

Past Perfect Continuous vs. Present Perfect Continuous

Both tenses are used with time expressions, such as for, since, all day, and the difference is in the time aspect. Present Perfect Progressive is used to highlight that something has been ongoing up until now: We have been waiting for delivery for ages. (The delivery is still not here.)

For the Past Perfect Continuous tense, the defining factor is that the ongoing action ended before some point in the past: Our team had been discussing strategies for ages before we came to a conclusion. (Both happened in the past.)

How do I apply the Past Perfect Continuous in conversations?

The tense is quite often used in daily dialogues by native speakers when it comes to:

Explaining the reason for something that happened in the past.

They were tired because they had been partying all night. — The first part is the effect, and the second is the cause.

Emphasizing the duration of something before a past event.

We had been looking for good tickets all morning before you sent that website. — The action had been ongoing for a particular period of time (all morning) before another action.

Past Perfect Continuous Tense: Rules, Usage, and Examples

What is the Past Perfect Continuous tense?

Past Perfect Continuous tense formula

When to use the Past Perfect Continuous in English?