Advanced English · 20 min
Past perfect continuous
The point
Had been plus -ing is a longer activity leading up to an earlier past moment. She had been working for an hour when I called. Called is the past simple. The length sits with the had been form.
Form and use
The past perfect continuous is had been plus the -ing form. It describes an activity that was in progress up to a past moment, or that had been going on for a length of time. When I called, she had been waiting for an hour. When introduces the past simple event that interrupts or follows.
Forms: She had been waiting for an hour when I called. She had not been waiting long when I called. Had she been waiting long when you called? For an hour names the length. Since noon names the start, seen from that past moment. The negative is had not been plus -ing. The question is had, subject, been, -ing.
Contrast this with the past perfect simple. She had sent the file before I called means the sending was complete. She had been sending files all morning when I called means the activity had duration and was still the background. Use simple for a finished result. Use continuous for the length or the ongoing activity.
Do not use the past continuous alone when you need the earlier link. She was waiting when I called can mean she was in the middle of waiting at that moment, with no stress on how long before. Had been waiting for an hour makes the earlier duration explicit. Do not write had been wait, and do not drop been.
Don't translate it like this
Don't say
She had been work for an hour when I called.
Say
She had been working for an hour when I called.
내가 전화했을 때 그녀는 한 시간째 일하고 있었습니다.
Had been working.
Short examples
She had been working for an hour when I called.
내가 전화했을 때 그녀는 한 시간째 일하고 있었습니다.
They had been waiting since noon.
그들은 정오부터 기다리고 있었습니다.
When I called, she had been waiting for an hour.
내가 전화했을 때 그녀는 한 시간째 기다리고 있었습니다.
She had not been waiting long when I called.
내가 전화했을 때 그녀는 오래 기다리지 않았습니다.
Had she been waiting long when you called?
당신이 전화했을 때 그녀는 오래 기다리고 있었습니까?
She had been working since noon when the mail arrived.
메일이 도착했을 때 그녀는 정오부터 일하고 있었습니다.
She had sent the file before I called.
내가 전화하기 전에 그녀는 파일을 보냈습니다.
She had been sending files all morning when I called.
내가 전화했을 때 그녀는 아침 내내 파일을 보내고 있었습니다.
They had been living there for years before they moved.
이사하기 전 그들은 거기서 여러 해 살고 있었습니다.
He had not been sleeping well before the trip.
여행 전에 그는 잠을 잘 자지 못하고 있었습니다.
Questions
Every question has to be right to close this point.
Answer every question, then check.