The past perfect continuous

A Introduction

David is relating an accident.

I fell down the steps here and broke my leg. I'd taken a bus into town, and I'd been swimming in the pool.

David is talking about a situation in the past (I fell and broke my leg). When we look back to something before this past time, we use the past perfect simple or the past perfect continuous.

Past perfect simple: I had taken a bus into town.

Past perfect continuous: I had been swimming in the pool.

We use the past perfect continuous for an action which happened over a period of time. The swimming went on for some time before David broke his leg.

B Form

The past perfect continuous is had been + an -ing form.

POSITIVE

I/you/he/she/it/we/they had been swimming.

I had been waiting ages OR I'd been waiting ages.

NEGATIVE

I/you/he/she/it/we/they had not/hadn't been swimming

I had not been paying attention OR I hadn't been paying attention.

QUESTION

had I/you/he/she/it/we/they been swimming.

Had it been raining?

C I had been doing or I had done?

Compare the past perfect continuous and simple.

OVER A PERIOD (had been doing)

I found the calculator. I'd been looking for it for ages.

Vicky felt tired because she'd been working all day.

We are thinking of Vicky's work going on as she got tired.

We normally use the continuous with a phrase saying how long.

When the company went bankrupt, it had been losing money for months.

We do not normally use the past perfect continuous for states.

NOT He had been seeming unwell.

COMPLETE (had done)

I finally bought a new calculator. I'd looked everywhere for the old one.

Vicky felt pleased because she'd done so much work.

We are thinking of Vicky's work as complete.

We normally use the simple form with a phrase saying how much/many.

When the company went bankrupt, it had lost over a million pounds.

We also use the past perfect simple for states.

The old man had seemed unwell for some time before he died.

D Comparison with other continuous forms

Compare the present perfect continuous (has/have been doing) and the past perfect continuous.

Vicky looks very upset. I think she's been crying.

Vicky looked very upset. I thought she'd been crying.

Compare the past continuous (was doing) and the past perfect continuous.

When I phoned, Natasha was having a piano lesson. (I phoned during the lesson.)

When I phoned, Natasha had been having a piano lesson. (I phoned after the lesson.)