Past perfect continuous

The past perfect continuous = had been + verb-ing. Had is the same for every subject, so there is nothing to change for he / she / it.

💡In speech, had is usually shortened to 'd: I'd been, she'd been, they'd been. When 'd comes right before been, it is always had. Say the /d/ clearly — without it, I'd been sounds like I been, and the listener loses the past meaning.

1. An activity that went on for a period of time up to a moment in the past — often with for, since, all day, how long

• By the time the doctor came, we'd been waiting for two hours.

• Minh had been working at the bank since 2018 when he decided to quit.

• How long had you been learning English before you moved to Canada?

2. Explaining a past situation — an activity just before it (it may have just stopped) left a sign or a result

• Her eyes were red. She'd been crying.

• The road was wet because it had been raining all night.

• I was exhausted when I got home — I'd been standing all day.

3. An activity that was still going on when something else happened (often the event stopped it)

• Lan had been driving for six hours when she finally stopped for coffee.

• They hadn't been dating long when they got engaged.

💡This tense always needs a moment in the past (when I arrived, by the time…, a situation at that time) to look back from. Many learners use have been -ing in a past story by mistake. If the moment is now → have been -ing; if it is a moment in the past → had been -ing.

Have been -ing or had been -ing? Both mean “doing something for a period of time”; only the end point is different: now, or a moment in the past.

• I've been waiting for twenty minutes. Where are you?

  up to now

• I'd been waiting for twenty minutes when she finally replied.

  up to the moment she replied

Was -ing or had been -ing? Was -ing = in the middle of the activity at that moment; had been -ing = the activity went on before that moment (it may have stopped).

• When I got home, Mum was cooking.

  she was still cooking

• When I got home, the kitchen smelled of garlic. Mum had been cooking.

  she cooked before I arrived

Had been -ing or had + V3? Had been -ing is about the activity and how long; had + V3 (the past perfect) is about a finished result and how many / how much.

State verbs (know, believe, own, have = possess…) are not usually used in the continuous, so use had + V3 even when you talk about a period of time.

• We had known each other for ten years when we started the company.

  not: had been knowing

• ✗He had been work there for ten years.

  ✓He had been working there for ten years.

  had been needs -ing after it.

• ✗I was tired because I have been driving all day.

  ✓I was tired because I had been driving all day.

  The story is in the past (was) → had, not have.

• ✗By noon she had been reading three chapters.

  ✓By noon she had read three chapters.

  A finished number → had + V3.

• ✗I had been knowing him for years.

  ✓I had known him for years.

  know is a state verb → no continuous.

• ✗How long you had been living there?

  ✓How long had you been living there?

  In a question, had goes before the subject.

• ✗She had being waiting for an hour.

  ✓She had been waiting for an hour.

  had + been (the V3 of be), not being.