Практикум по грамматике английского языка : учебное пособие

Past perfect continuous
Usage:
• to talk about actions which had been in progress before or up to the time of 
another past action
I had been walking for about half an hour when it suddenly started to rain.
• to describe a repeated action
He’d been phoning every night for a month.
The following time expressions are used with Past Perfect Continuous:
already We had already been working on the project for two
 
weeks when you joined the team.
for (a long time) Emma and Jill suddenly realized that they had 
 
 
been talking on the phone for two hours.
since 
She had a headache because she had been studying 
 
hard without stop ping since 2.30 pm.
NOTE:
Past Perfect Continuous is not used with verbs which are not used in the 
continuous forms except with want and wish 
The boy was delighted with his new knife. He had been wanting one for 
a long time.

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POSITIVE FORM
had (‘d) been + Participle I (Verb-ing)
I
You
He/She/It  had (‘d) been cooking* on the stove.
We
You
They 
* Spelling of ending—ing. See Appendix p. 227.
Exercise 12. Complete the sentences using Past Perfect Continuous of 
the verbs in brackets.
Example: Mr Brown had been working (work) for 45 years when he fi-
nally retired in 1970.
1. The FBI ___________ (look) for the criminal for three years before they 
caught him.
2. When Sam got home, his hair was still wet because he ___________ (swim).
3. Mary’s eyes were red and puffy because she ___________ (cry).
4. The injured man ___________ (wait) in the emergency room for almost an 
hour and a half before they finally treated him.
5. Joe ___________ (already/think) about changing jobs when he got the offer.
6. They didn’t like the house, even though they ___________ (live) there for 
years.
7. When I got there, she ___________ (work) all night.
8. We ___________ (travel) for about four hours when I realized that some-
thing was wrong with one of the tyres.
Exercise 13. Read the story. Answer the questions which follow the story. 
Example: Who had black grease on his hands at tea time? Why?
Walter’s father had, because he’d been repairing his car.
On Friday afternoon, everyone in Walter’s family was very busy—except 
him. During the afternoon his father repaired his car; his brother Ned practised his 
karate; his mother did some gardening; his sister Evelyn played tennis; his nephew 
Jim swam for an hour; his niece Gloria went horse-riding; his cousin Fred painted 
the ceiling in his room. Walter spent the afternoon playing computer games.
1. Who had dirt on her hands and knees? Why? 
2. Who was wearing a short white skirt? Why?
3. Who was wearing a white jacket and white trousers and a black belt? Why? 

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4. Who was wearing high boots and a hard hat? Why? 
5. Whose hair had white streaks in it? Why? 
6. Whose hair was all wet? Why?