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Narrative tenses: past perfect continuous
B2 B2 grammar · lesson 1 of 21
In this lesson you learn how to tell a story in the past with four tenses, including the past perfect continuous. Good stories need a clear order of events, and these tenses give you that order.
The four narrative tenses
When we tell a story about the past, we usually mix four tenses. You already know three of them: the past simple, the past continuous and the past perfect (Lesson 3 of B1). Now we add the past perfect continuous.
| Tense | Use in a story | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Past simple | the main events, one after another | She opened the door. |
| Past continuous | background action at that moment | It was raining. |
| Past perfect | a finished action before the main events | Someone had left a note. |
| Past perfect continuous | a longer action that continued up to a past moment | She had been waiting for an hour. |
Form of the past perfect continuous
Use had been + verb-ing. The form is the same for all subjects.
| Positive | Negative | Question |
|---|---|---|
| I had been working. | I hadn’t been working. | Had you been working? |
| They had been running. | They hadn’t been running. | Had they been running? |
When do we use it?
- For an action that continued for some time before another past event: He had been driving for six hours when he stopped.
- To explain a result we could see in the past: Her eyes were red. She had been crying.
- With for and since and how long, just like the present perfect continuous, but one step further back in time.
Tom had been working at the bank for ten years when he decided to leave.
The ground was wet because it had been raining all night.
When I arrived, Anna was cooking and the children were playing.
We had been walking for hours, so we were very tired.
Ali had already eaten, so he didn’t want any pizza.
How long had you been living there before you moved?
Maria hadn’t been sleeping well, so she went to the doctor.
Common mistakes
Do not use the continuous form with state verbs like know, believe, like, own. Use the past perfect simple instead.
✗ I had been knowing him for years.
✓ I had known him for years.
✗ She was tired because she has been running.
✓ She was tired because she had been running.
✗ They had been wait for two hours.
✓ They had been waiting for two hours.