Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Select the sentence that is built correctly in the past perfect continuous tense.

• He had been playing basketball when he fell.

• He had playing basketball when he fell.

• He was been playing basketball when he fell.

• He has been playing basketball when he fell.

Answer explanation

The past perfect continuous tense is formed with 'had' + 'been' + the present participle (-ing form) of the verb. This option is the only one that follows the correct 'had been verb-ing' structure.

To form the past perfect continuous tense, which three parts do you need to list in order?

• had + been + verb-ing

• was + been + verb-ing

• had + verb-ed + been

• have + been + verb-ing

Answer explanation

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

True or False: The sentence 'She had been to the library before it closed' is an example of the past perfect continuous tense.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

This sentence is in the past perfect simple tense. The past perfect continuous requires a verb ending in '-ing' (like 'had been going') to show a continuing action.

Complete the sentence: By the time the pizza arrived, we _______ for over an hour.

• had been waiting

• have been waiting

• were waiting

• had waited

Answer explanation

The past perfect continuous ('had been waiting') is used to show an action that was happening for a period of time before another action in the past ('the pizza arrived').

Identify the sentence that best describes an action that was in progress for a while before something else happened in the past.

• When the bell rang, I had been finishing my test for ten minutes.

• When the bell rang, I finished my test.

• I was finishing my test.

• I have been finishing my test.

Answer explanation

The past perfect continuous tense ('had been finishing') is used to emphasize the duration of an activity that was happening before another past event ('When the bell rang').

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

• True

• False

Answer explanation

To make a negative sentence in this tense, 'not' is placed after 'had'. The contraction 'hadn't' is a correct and common way to write 'had not'.

Complete the sentence: My dad was exhausted because he _______ the whole house all afternoon.

• has been cleaning

• had been cleaning

• was cleaning

• had cleaned

Answer explanation

The past perfect continuous ('had been cleaning') explains the reason ('because') for a past state ('was exhausted') by describing a long action that happened before it.

Which question is formed correctly in the past perfect continuous tense?

• Been you studying for the quiz?

• You had been studying for the quiz?

• Did you been studying for the quiz?

• Had you been studying for the quiz?

Answer explanation

To form a yes/no question in the past perfect continuous tense, the auxiliary verb 'had' is moved to the beginning of the sentence, before the subject.

Complete the question: How long _______ on the phone before her mom told her to hang up?

• she had been talking

• has she been talking

• had she been talking

• was she talking

Answer explanation

For a 'Wh-' question, the structure is 'Wh- word' + 'had' + subject + 'been' + verb-ing. This option correctly inverts 'had' and the subject 'she'.

True or False: In the past perfect continuous tense, words like 'for' and 'since' are often used to specify how long the action was happening.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Duration markers like 'for two hours' and 'since 8 AM' are key indicators used with the past perfect continuous tense to show the length of the ongoing past action.