Activity 4: Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Now, let’s delve into the realm of the Past Perfect Continuous Tense. This tense is like the rich layers of a historical novel—it tells us about ongoing actions or states that were happening over a period leading up to a certain moment in the past. It’s the tense that helps us paint a detailed picture of the past within the past. 🔭

The Layered Structure:

The Past Perfect Continuous Tense combines duration and completeness. It talks about the continuity of past actions up to another point in the past.
Use ‘had been’ followed by the present participle (the base form of the verb + -ing).

Formulas:

  • Affirmative Sentences: Subject + had been + present participle
    • Example: They had been playing chess for an hour when we arrived. ♟
  • Negative Sentences: Subject + had not (hadn’t) been + present participle
    • Example: She hadn’t been feeling well that day. 🤒
  • Interrogative Sentences: Had + subject + been + present participle?
    • Example: Had you been studying before the test started? 📚

Instructions:

Fill in the blanks using the Past Perfect Continuous tense of the verbs in brackets, focusing on the duration and continuity of past actions. The complexity will increase with each sentence, so pace yourself and remember the rules. Some will need to be in negative forms or questions.

Question 1

The musician ________ for years before she got her big break. (practice)

Question 2

They ________ for months about whether to buy the house. (debate)

Question 3

It ________ for hours, which is why the ground is so wet. (rain)

Question 4

I ________ all morning and was exhausted by lunchtime. (work)

Question 5

She ________ the report for weeks when her computer crashed. (write)

Question 6

We ________ at the bus stop for half an hour when the bus finally came. (wait)

Question 7

How long ________ there before they promoted you to manager? (you work)

Question 8

He ________ the whole day and needed a shower. (jog)

Question 9

They ________ their wedding since the day they got engaged. (plan)

Question 10

She ________ French for three years by the time she moved to Paris. (study)

Question 11

The committee ________ the issue for a long time when a solution was proposed. (consider)

Question 12

Had you ________ long before the rest of the team arrived? (wait)

Question 13

I ________ just ________ to fall asleep when the alarm went off. (start)

Question 14

The scientist ________ the experiment for several years before making a breakthrough. (conduct)

Question 15

I knew she was tired because she ________ up all night studying. (be)

Question 16

The car ________ strange noises for a while before it finally broke down. (make)

Question 17

By the time the actor received the award, he ________ in Broadway shows for over a decade. (perform)

Question 18

The kids ________ excited all week for the field trip. (be)

Question 19

The company ________ financial difficulties for quite some time before they declared bankruptcy. (face)

Question 20

Why ________ he ________ so nervously when I walked into the room? (behave)

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