Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Which sentence correctly uses the past perfect continuous tense?

• She had been practicing her guitar all day.

• She was practicing her guitar all day.

• She has been practicing her guitar all day.

• She had practiced her guitar all day.

Answer explanation

This is correct because the past perfect continuous tense is formed with 'had' + 'been' + the present participle (verb-ing). The other options use the past continuous, present perfect continuous, or past perfect simple tenses.

Complete the sentence: My fingers were sore because I ______ on my phone for three hours.

• was texting

• had been texting

• have been texting

• had texted

Answer explanation

The correct form is 'had been texting' because it describes a continuous action (texting) that happened over a period of time before another past event (my fingers were sore).

True or False: To ask a question in the past perfect continuous, you would say, 'Been you studying for a long time?'

• True

• False

Answer explanation

This is incorrect. To form a question, you invert the subject and 'had,' so the correct question is 'Had you been studying for a long time?'.

True or False: The following sentence is grammatically correct: 'We have been studying for an hour when the power went out.'

• True

• False

Answer explanation

The sentence describes two past events. Therefore, the auxiliary verb should be 'had' to form the past perfect continuous, not 'have'. The correct sentence is 'We had been studying...'

What are the three parts that make up the past perfect continuous tense?

• has + been + verb-ing

• had + been + verb-ing

• was + been + verb-ing

• had + verb-ed

Answer explanation

The formula for the past perfect continuous tense is the auxiliary verb 'had', followed by 'been', followed by the present participle of the main verb (the '-ing' form).

I saw crumbs all over my brother's face. It was obvious that he _______ the cookies just before I came in.

• ate

• had eaten

• was eating

• had been eating

Answer explanation

The past perfect continuous ('had been eating') is best because it emphasizes the recent, ongoing nature of the action that resulted in the evidence (crumbs on his face).

Which situation is best described using the past perfect continuous tense?

• An action that was happening at one moment in the past.

• An action that was completed before a moment in the past.

• An action that continued for some time before another event in the past.

• An action that is still happening now.

Answer explanation

The main use of the past perfect continuous is to show that an action was in progress for a duration leading up to another point in the past.

Identify the correctly written negative sentence.

• He had not been listen to the teacher.

• He had been not listening to the teacher.

• He had not been listening to the teacher.

• He not had been listening to the teacher.

Answer explanation

To make a negative sentence, 'not' is placed after the first auxiliary verb, 'had'. The verb must also be in the correct '-ing' form, 'listening'.

True or False: The sentence 'They hadn't been paying attention' is a correct negative sentence in the past perfect continuous tense.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

The sentence correctly uses the contraction 'hadn't' (had not) followed by 'been' and the present participle 'paying,' which is the correct structure for a negative statement.

Your friend looks exhausted. You suspect they were up all night playing video games. Choose the best question to ask.

• Did you play video games all night?

• Were you playing video games all night?

• Had you been playing video games all night?

• Have you been playing video games all night?

Answer explanation

This question is best because it connects the past continuous action (playing all night) to the present result of that past action (looking exhausted).