The past perfect continuous is used for actions or events that were in process in the past before another action or event occurred.
Grammatical Rules
Form
As with the present perfect continuous, we form the past perfect continuous with the auxiliary verb “to have”, “been” and the verb+ing.
| Subject |
Auxiliary |
Verb+ing |
| I, you, he, she, it, we, they |
had been |
studying, working, traveling… |
Structure
Subject + “had” + “been” + verb+ing…
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I had [I’d] been studying English for 2 years when I went to London.
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Lindsay had been working at the store since 2005 when it closed.
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They were surprised when the airline lost their baggage as they had [they’d] been traveling for weeks without a problem.
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Subject + “had” + “not” + “been” + verb+ing…
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I had not [hadn’t] been studying English long when I went to London.
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Lindsay had not [hadn’t] been working at the store for long when it closed.
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They had not [hadn’t] been traveling long before they had their first problem.
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3. Interrogative Sentences
“Had” + subject + “been” + verb+ing…?
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Had you been studying English for a long time before you went to London?
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Had Lindsay been working at the store for a long time when it closed?
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Had they been traveling for a long time when the airline lost their luggage?
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Uses
1. We use the past perfect continuous for actions or events that were in process in the past, before another action or event occurred. The past perfect continuous is used for the action in process and the past simple for the action that interrupted the action. As we use this tense to refer to something we were doing over a period of time in the past, we generally use the prepositions of time “for” or “since”.
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I’d been working for hours when I fell asleep at my desk.
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Frank bought a new car. He’d been looking for one since last year.
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We’d been arguing for days when Elizabeth found a solution.
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2. The past perfect continuous is used to show cause and effect in the past.
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She was tired because she’d been working too much.
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They were angry because they’d been waiting for me for hours.
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Note: As we have seen, there are some verbs which may not be used in the continuous tenses. Further explanation, as well as a list of such verbs that cannot be used in the continuous tenses, can be found in the lesson on the continuous verb tenses.
Note: As we have seen, there are some verbs which may not be used in the continuous tenses. Further explanation, as well as a list of such verbs that cannot be used in the continuous tenses, can be found in the lesson on the continuous verb tenses.
El pasado perfecto continuo en inglés corresponde al pluscuamperfecto de español en el que se usa el indicativo del verbo “estar” y el verbo+ing. En general, lo usamos para acciones en proceso de realización en el pasado antes de otra acción ocurrida.
Grammatical Rules (Reglas gramaticales)
Form (Forma)
Como en el presente perfecto continuo, se forma el pasado perfecto continuo con el verbo auxiliar “to have”, “been” y el verbo+ing.
| Sujeto |
Auxiliar |
Verbo+ing |
| I, you, he, she, it, we, they |
had been |
studying, working, traveling… |
Structure (Estructura)
1. Affirmative Sentences (Frases afirmativas)
Sujeto + “had” + “been” + verbo+ing…
Ejemplos:
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I had [I’d] been studying English for 2 years when I went to London.(Había estado estudiando inglés durante 2 años cuando fui a Londres.)
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Lindsay had been working at the store since 2005 when it closed.(Lindsay había estado trabajando en la tienda desde el año 2005 cuando se cerró.)
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They were surprised when the airline lost their baggage as they had [they’d] been traveling for weeks without a problem.(Se sorprendieron cuando la aerolínea perdió su equipaje ya que habían estado viajando durante semanas sin problemas.)
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2. Negative Sentences (Frases negativas)
Sujeto + “had” + “not” + “been” + verbo+ing…
Ejemplos:
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I had not [hadn’t] been studying English long when I went to London.(No había estado estudiando inglés mucho tiempo cuando fui a Londres.)
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Lindsay had not [hadn’t] been working at the store for long when it closed.(Lindsay no había estado trabajando en la tienda mucho tiempo cuando se cerró.)
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They had not [hadn’t] been traveling long before they had their first problem.(No habían estado viajando mucho antes de que tuvieran su primer problema.)
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3. Interrogative Sentences (Frases interrogativas)
“Had” + sujeto + “been” + verbo+ing?
Ejemplos:
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Had you been studying English for a long time before you went to London?(¿Habías estado estudiando inglés mucho tiempo antes de irte a Londres?)
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Had Lindsay been working at the store for a long time when it closed?(¿Lindsay había estado trabajando mucho tiempo cuando se cerró?)
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Had they been traveling for a long time when the airline lost their luggage?(¿Habían estado viajando mucho tiempo cuando la aerolínea perdió su equipaje?)
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Uses (Usos)
1. Usamos el pasado perfecto continuo para referirnos a algo que habíamos estado haciendo (en proceso) cuando otra acción lo interrumpió. El pasado perfecto continuo se utiliza para la acción en proceso y el pasado simple para la acción que interrumpe. Cuando nos referimos a algo que hemos estado haciendo en un período de tiempo, por lo tanto, solemos usar las preposiciones de tiempo “for” o “since”.
Ejemplos:
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I’d been working for hours when I fell asleep at my desk.(Había estado trabajando durante horas cuando me quedé dormido en mi escritorio.)
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Frank bought a new car. He’d been looking for one since last year.(Frank compró un nuevo coche. Lo había estado buscando desde el año pasado.)
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We’d been arguing for days when Elizabeth found a resolution.(Habíamos estado discutiendo durante días cuando Elizabeth encontró una resolución.)
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2. Se utiliza para demostrar causa y efecto en el pasado.
Ejemplos:
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She was tired because she’d been working too much.(Estaba cansado porque había estado trabajando demasiado.)
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They were angry because they’d been waiting for me for hours.(Estaban enfadados porque habían estado esperándome durante horas.)
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Nota: Como hemos visto en las últimas lecciones, hay algunos verbos con los que no podemos usar las formas continuas. Puedes consultar la lección sobre los tiempos continuos y su explicación.
Nota: Como hemos visto en las últimas lecciones, hay algunos verbos con los que no podemos usar las formas continuas. Puedes consultar la lección sobre los tiempos continuos y su explicación.
