Past Perfect and Past Perfect Continuous

Past Perfect or

Past Perfect Continuous?

2

1

They went home after they had finished their work.

1

My brother had eaten all the pie before we got back.

2

2

1

She said that she had already seen the Pyramids.

had finished

had eaten

had already seen

Past Perfect

Positive Sentences:

Subject + had + V3

Negative Sentences

Subject + had not/hadn’t +V3 +...

John hadn’t lived in the USA before last year.

Questions Sentences

Had + S + V3 +...?

Had John lived in the USA before last year?

Look at this example:

He had bought a car before 2009.

had bought 2009

Past Perfect expresses an activity that happened before another time in the past .

Key words : before, after, already, just, for, since, till/until, when, by the time, never

1

We had been playing football for half an hour when it started to rain.

2

2

1

He had been doing his homework before you came in.

1

2

He was tired because he had been writing letters all morning.

had been playing

had been doing

had been writing

Past Perfect Continuous

Positive Sentences:

Subject + had + been + Ving

Past Perfect Continuous

Negative Sentences

Subject + had not/hadn’t + been + Ving

Her eyes were not red. She hadn’t been crying .

Past Perfect Continuous

Questions Sentences

Had + S + been + Ving ...?

They were out of breath. Had they been running for a long time?

Compare:

Past Perfect

Had V 3

Key words : before, after, already, just, for, since, by the time …

Past Perfect Continuons

Had been V ing

Key words : before, for, since, until, how long ….

Tom had finished his work by noon. ( fact before specific time)

Sharon was very tired because she had been painting her room for all day. ( process in the past)

Choose the right form:

• They went to the museum after they (finish) ….. their work.
• She (not sleep) … for two days and felt exhausted.
• How long (wait) …. at the station before the train arrived.
• Andy was annoyed. He (lose) …. his passport.
• Lisa looked tired because she (travel) ….. all day.

Correct :

• They went to the museum after they had finished their work.
• She had not been sleeping for two days and felt exhausted.
• How long had you been waiting at the station before the train arrived.
• Andy was annoyed. He had lost his passport.
• Lisa looked tired because she had been travelling all day.