PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

SUBJECT + HAD + BEEN + VERB-ing + (Complements)

STATEMENT              I had been studying for ten hours

                                She had been writing a composition since Sunday

                                They had been walking home every day

NEGATION                  I had not been studying for ten hours

     She had not been writing a composition since Sunday

                                 They had not been walking home every day

INTERROGATION     Had I been studying for ten hours?

     Had she been writing a composition since Sunday?

                              Had they been walking home every day?

TIME EXPRESSIONS:

Those related to perfect tenses.

 

USES:

·                   To emphasize the duration of the action: They had been playing with the computers for days without sleeping.

·                   Continuous actions happening in the past before another short action took place: I had been working for hours when the director came in my office.

·                    I had been trying to find an agent for months until finally I found one. (SE SUELE TRADUCIR POR ‘LLEVAR’ EN PRETÉRITO IMPERFECTO + VERBO EN GERUNDIO).
·                    Lo habitual es que esas dos acciones vayan unidas por una conjunción, que puede ser temporal (WHEN, UNTIL, BEFORE), concesiva (ALTHOUGH) o causal (BECAUSE). The play was a failure because the main character had been drinking all night.
·                    Las expresiones temporales usadas con el PERFECT CONTINUOUS deben indicar un período, no un momento concreto.
·                    Si se puede contar el número de veces que ha ocurrido una cosa no se utiliza el PERFECT CONTINUOUS. He has tried has been trying to call her four times today.
·                    Los VERBOS ESTÁTICOS (WANT, KNOW, BELIEVE, etc.) no pueden ir en PERFECT CONTINUOUS.