The Past Perfect Continuous tense is used to talk about longer actions in the past

and past results. You can make it with had + been + verb-ing

What you need to know about the past perfect continuous

How to make the past perfect continuous

What the past perfect continuous means

How to use the past perfect continuous

Practice making the past perfect continuous

Download this explanation as a PDF

How do you make the past perfect continuous

What does the Past Perfect Continuous mean?

The Past Perfect Continuous is an action that started in the past and continued to a certain point in the past.

Here is what the Past Perfect Continuous looks like on a timeline.

Present Continuous Timeline

How do I use the Past Perfect Continuous?

Continuous action in the past to a certain point in the past

keywords: with past simple

• I had been living in Malta for ten years before I met my wife.

• She had been trying to finish painting before we interrupted her.

Results in the past

Keywords: recently

• He couldn’t breathe because he’d been running for the bus!

• She was very tired because she’d been studying all night.

Practice

Practice making the past perfect continuous