9. Past Perfect Continuous

Past Perfect Continuous

AFIRMATIVE SENTENCE(Subject + had + been + verb + -ing) 
NEGATIVE SENTENCE(Subject + had + not + been +  verb + -ing)
QUESTION SENTENCE(Had + subject + been +verb +ing?)

It is used for:

  1. Action that began in the past (before another action) and continued until another time in the past.
  2. Time markers such as “when”, “since”, “for”, and “before”.
  3. Something that finished just before another event in the past.

Examples:

Sam was very tired after work. He had been running.

Suddenly, my car stopped running. I was not that surprised. It had not been running so well.

Had John been drinking before the party?

I had been working in that company since 2012 before I changed jobs.

I had been doing exercise before I saw you, which is why I was so tired.