Past Perfect Progressive – Verb Meaning and Use

This post will show you how to use the Past Perfect Progressive (also called the Past Perfect Continuous). To see how to form the Past Perfect Progressive, click here.

The Past Perfect Progressive expresses the relationship in time between two past events, similar to the Past Perfect. However, the Past Perfect Progressive emphasizes that the first event was ongoing and continued up to or just before the second event.

• Tomomi had been studying all night. (Past Perfect Progressive, 1^st event)
• She was exhausted at breakfast. (Past Simple, 2^nd event)

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 For and since often show how long a situation lasted before the second past event.

• Chris left his office at 6:00 pm. (Past Simple, 2^nd event)
• He‘d been working since 8:00 am. (Past Perfect Progressive, 1^st event)

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The Past Perfect Progressive is often used in sentences using past time clauses.

• Michelle had been working for nine and a half hours (Past Perfect Progressive, 1^st event)
• by the time she left her office. (Past Simple, 2^nd event)

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Certain common verbs can be used with the Past Perfect and the Past Perfect Progressive with little or no difference in meaning, but using the Progressive can show a more intense or emotional situation.

• Mr. Garcia had lived there since 1982. (Past Perfect)
• Mr. Garcia had been living there since 1982.  (Past Perfect Progressive)
• I’d waited an hour (neutral)
• I’d been waiting an hour. (I was so mad!)

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The Past Perfect can express a completed action that may or may not have happened recently. In contrast, the Past Perfect Progressive suggests that an action was continuing up to or ended just before a specific time in the past.

• Janice had watered the garden before I arrived. (She may have watered it a few minutes or many hours before I arrived.)
• Janice had been watering the garden before I arrived. (She watered the garden a few minutes before I arrived. The ground was still wet.)

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We do not use the Past Perfect Progressive to tell how many times an action is repeated.

• I’d read it three times before. (Correct)
• I’d been reading it three times before. (Incorrect)

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Both the Past Perfect and the Past Perfect Progressive are used to provide background information about earlier events. They are used to give reasons with because, express contrasts with although or even though, and are used to draw conclusions.

• She looked very tired because she had been studying all night. (Reason)
• She looked very tired because she had studied all night. (Reason)
• She looked very tired although she had been sleeping for 12 hours. (Contrast)
• She looked very tired although she had slept for 12 hours. (Contrast)
• I realized that he had been criticizing my work. (Conclusion)
• I realized that he had criticized my work. (Conclusion)

Past Perfect Progressive – Verb Form

This post will show you how to form the Past Perfect Progressive. To see how to use the Past Perfect Progressive, click here.

Affirmative Statements

Subject + Had		Been	Verb + ing
I’d		been	working	all day.
You’d		been	waiting	for a long time.
She’d/He’d/It’d		been	snowing	all night.
We’d		been	eating	dinner.
They’d/You’d (plural)		been	investing	a lot of money.

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Negative Statements

Subject	Had Not (hadn’t)	Been	Verb + ing
I	hadn’t	been	going	to school for some time.
You	hadn’t	been	writing	your essay.
She/He/It	hadn’t	been	dating	her for very long.
We	hadn’t	been	traveling	for a while.
They/You (plural)	hadn’t	been	sleeping	well.

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Yes/No Questions

Had	Subject	Been	Verb + ing
Had	you	been	living	in Dubai
Had	it	been	raining	all morning?
Had	they	been	driving	all night?

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Short Answers

Yes	Subject	Had	No	Subject	Had + Not (hadn’t)
Yes,	I	had.	No,	I	hadn’t.
Yes,	he	had.	No,	he	hadn’t.
Yes,	they	had.	No,	they	hadn’t.

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Information Questions

Wh- Word	Had	Subject	Been	Verb + ing
Who	had	you	been	talking	to?
What	had	she	been	doing	all morning?
When	had	he	been	working?
Where	had	it	been	snowing?
How	had	they	been	traveling?
Why	had	they	been	going	to Hong Kong?
Who (subject)	had		been	eating	my food?
What (subject)	had		been	happening	before I arrived?

Past Perfect – Verb Form

This post will show you how to form the Past Perfect. To see how to use the Past Perfect, click here.

Affirmative Statements

Subject	Had	Past Participle
I	had	gone	to school.
You	had	lived	in Alaska.
He/She/It	had	watched	TV.
We	had	walked	to the store.
They/You (plural)	had	played	tennis.

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Negative Statements

Subject	Had + Not (hadn’t)	Past participle
I	hadn’t	eaten	dinner.
You	hadn’t	waited	for us.
She/He/It	hadn’t	driven	very fast.
We	hadn’t	thought	about the consequences.
They/You (plural)	hadn’t	slept	by 8:00 am.

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Yes/No Questions

Had	Subject	Past Participle
Had	you	been	to Frankfurt before?
Had	he	cooked	dinner?
Had	they	written	their essay?

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Short Answers

Yes	Subject	Had	No	Subject	Had + Not (hadn’t)
Yes,	I	had.	No,	I	hadn’t.
Yes,	he	had.	No,	he	hadn’t.
Yes,	they	had.	No,	they	hadn’t.

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Information Questions

Wh- Word	Had	Subject	Past Participle
Who	had	you	voted	for?
What	had	she	arranged?
When	had	he	quit	smoking?
Where	had	it	gone?
How	had	they	broken	the dishes?
Why	had	they	changed	jobs?
Who (subject)	had		left?
What (subject)	had		happened?

Past Perfect – Meaning and Use

This post will show you how to use the Past Perfect. To see how to form the Past Perfect, click here.

The Past Perfect expresses the relationship in time between two past events. It shows that one action or state happened before another action or state in the past. The Past Perfect expresses the first event and the Past Simple often expresses the second, or later, event.

• I had just completed the exam. (Past perfect, 1^st event)
• I felt so relieved. (Past Simple, 2^nd event)

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The past time can be recent or distant.

• Michael called me this morning, but I wasn’t there; I had already left.  (Recent time)
• Michael wrote me last year, but I never got the letter; I had moved away.

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The Past Perfect is often used in sentences containing past time clauses. The Past Perfect is used to indicate the first event, and the Past Simple is used for the second event. Before, by the time, when, until, and after introduce the time clause.

Past Perfect (1^st Event)                                    Past Simple (2^nd Event)

The thief had escaped                                    before I called the police.

We had calmed down                                    by the time the police came.

He had been upstairs                                    when we came home.

We hadn’t noticed                                                until we heard the footsteps.

After I had called the police,                         we realized the thief was gone.

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In sentences with before, after, by the time, and until, the Past Perfect is sometimes replaced by the Past Simple with no difference in meaning.

• I had gone inside before I took off my coat. = I went inside before I took off my coat.
• After I had gone inside, I took off my coat. = After I went inside, I took off my coat.

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The Past Perfect is often used with the same adverbs and prepositions as the Present Perfect: already, yet, still, ever, never, for, since, and just.

•  By  lunch time, we had  already discussed the new budget and written a new report.
• I had lived in Texas for 12 years before I moved to California.
• Had she ever eaten a hot dog before she came to the United States? No, she’d never had one!!

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By + a time can be used with the Past Perfect to express the later time in the sentence.

• We had finished by then.
• By noon, we had hiked two miles.