Past Perfect Continuous: Finish the Sentences - Part 5

Finish the sentences with your own ideas

I’d been ……. for hours before I realised how late it was.

← Back Next part →

Rule: Past Perfect Continuous – B1 Grammar ShowHide

had been + -ing

An activity that went on for some time up to a moment in the past.

How long – with for, since, all day: Pam had been doing the same job for ten years before she tried something different.
The cause of a past result: Driving to work was difficult as it had been snowing all night.

I hadn't been sleeping well.
His clothes were covered in mud. What had he been doing?

Past Perfect Simple instead

had + 3rd form – the focus is on a finished action or its result.

How many, how much: I had looked at twenty flats before I found one I liked.
Done before another moment: I had finished my homework by the time my friends arrived.
Something that didn't happen: We were hungry because we hadn't eaten since breakfast.
State verbs – know, like, have (own): We had known each other for years.

Ask yourself: is it about the duration, how long it was going on? Take the continuous: They had been filming the same scene for three hours. Is it about the result, what was done or how many times? Take the simple: The phone had rung six times before they answered it.

Say it about yourself

Half of every sentence is already there – the half with had been in it. The other half is yours: what exactly had you been doing for hours before you finally fell asleep, and what had you been doing every night for weeks before that exam?

Seven prompts for speaking or writing. Level B1.