Past Perfect Continuous Tense: Definition and Example
What is the past perfect continuous tense?
Fill in the blank: “I _____ been waiting for you since morning.”
Give an example of a sentence in the past perfect continuous tense.
Past Perfect Continuous Tense: Definition and Example
The past perfect continuous tense is a verb tense that is used to talk about an ongoing action or event that happened in the past before another past action or event. It is formed by using the auxiliary verb “had” followed by “been” and the present participle form of the main verb (-ing form).
For example, let’s say you were talking about a child named Sarah who was playing outside before it started raining. You could say, “Sarah had been playing outside when it started raining.” In this sentence, “had been playing” is the past perfect continuous tense because it shows that Sarah was in the middle of playing outside when the rain started.
Here, are some Practice questions related to this topic.
Rewrite the following sentences in the past continuous tense:
1. She plays the piano. (She _____________ the piano.)
2. They eat ice cream. (They _____________ ice cream.)
3. He watches TV. (He _____________ TV.)
4. We study for the test. (We _____________ for the test.)
5. I write a letter. (I _____________ a letter.)
– Written By Amrapali Niungare
“I had been waiting for you since morning.”The past perfect continuous tense is used to describe an action that began in the past and continued up until another point in the past. In this case, the waiting started in the morning and continued until the time being referred to in the past. The structure of the past perfect continuous tense is: had + been + verb-ing. So in this sentence:
“Had” is the past perfect auxiliary verb
“Been” is the past participle of “be.”
“Waiting” is the present participle of the main verb “wait.”
This tense emphasizes the duration of the action leading up to a specific point in the past. The phrase “since morning” provides the starting point for the waiting.
– Written By Glenda
One example of a sentence in the past perfect continuous tense is:
“She had been studying for hours before she finally took a break.”
– Written By Fadipe Tolulope
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