Tenses and Their Uses
Part-8
PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE AND ITS USES
The Past Perfect Continuous Tense shows partial completion of an action along with continuity of the action in the past. It refers to a form of verb that we use to describe an action that began in the past and continued to another action in the past. We also call this tense form of the verb Present Perfect Progressive Tense.
According to Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, the Past Perfect Continuous Tense is a tense form used to indicate an action or situation that continued for a period of time before another action or situation in the past. Cambridge Dictionary defines this as the tense form which refers to an action or event started before a particular time in the past and were still in progress up to that time (in the past). It is to be remembered that the present perfect continuous tense expresses an action that started in the past and kept continuing till now. Instead the past perfect continuous tense denote an action that started in the past, continued in the past and ended at a certain point in the past.
Let's obseve the following example:-
We had been waiting for you for two hours
(It means that the act of waiting started two hours ago and continued for two hours and finally it ended as soon as you arrived.The act of waiting continued till the time you arrived.)
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB 'To Play'
AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCE
Sub+had+been+present participle form of the verb
1st Person (Singular):- I had been playing.
1st Person (Plural):- We had been playing.
2nd Person (Singular):- You had been playing.
2nd Person (Plural):- You had been playing.
3rd Person (Singular):- He had been playing.
She had been playing.
3rd Person (Plural):- They had been playing.
NEGATIVE SENTENCE
1st Person (Singular):- I had not been playing.
1st Person (Plural):- We had not been playing.
2nd Person( Singular):- You had not been playing.
You had not been playing.
3rd Person (Singular):- He/She had not been playing.
3rd Person (Plural):- They had not been playing.
INTERROGATIVE SENTENCE
1st Person (Singular):- Had I been playing?
1st Person (Plural):- Had we been playing?
2nd Person (Singular):- Had you been playing?
2nd Person (Plural):- Had you been playing?
3rd Person (Singular):- Had he/she been playing?
3rd Person (Plural):- Had they been playing?
USES OF PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE
i) The past perfect continuous tense is used to describe an action which was in progress throughout a period in the past.It is used to emphasise the duration of time or the length of time of the event in the past. In other words its main focus is on the duration of the action.
EXAMPLES:-
They had been waiting for you for three hours.
(How long had they been waiting for you? => for three hours.)
It had been raining for a long time.
They had been repairing the house since Monday.
ii) The Past Perfect Continuous Tense is used to describe an action that began before a certain point in the past and continued up to that time.
EXAMPLES:-
At that time he had been working in our office for five years.
(He joined our office five years ago and continued to render his service for five years and after that he might have been continuing his service in our office or might have left it.)
We had been playing till it started raining.
(We started playing in the past and continued till the rain interrupted the game. )
We had been watching a tele-film when the teacher came to meet us.
(We started to watch the film at a certain point in past and continued to watch it till the time the teacher came to meet us.)
iii) The past perfect continuous tense is used to denote an action that had been going on before another action took place in the past.
EXAMPLES:-
They had been playing for in the play ground before you joined them.
His grandfather had been suffering from cancer before he died last year.
The enemy had been preparing for war for a long time before they invaded our country.
I had been living in Delhi for ten years before I moved to Mumbai.
iv) The Past Perfect Tense is used to show that an action was frequently repeated.
EXAMPLES:-
The teacher was dissatisfied because the students had not been doing their homework for a week.
The officer was annoyed because you had been calling him everyday without any reason.
I had been trying to get you on the phone.
v) The Past Perfect Tense is used to show the conclusion of an action based on direct or indirect evidence. It is used to denote the consequence of an action done in the past. Generally we use the Simple Past Tense to express the consequence and the Past Perfect Continuous Tense for the action which is responsible for that type consequences.
-:EXAMPLES:-
The teacher looked tired. He had been teaching the students for three hours.
Her eyes were red. It was obvious that she had been weeping for a long time.
The girl looked fresh because she had been taking rest for the whole day.
