I had been working all day before I took a break.
- Language
- English
- Level
- B2
- Unit
- Verb Tenses and Aspects
- Practice types
- 0
What this grammar point covers
The past perfect continuous is a tense in English that shows an action that was happening over a period of time before another action in the past.
When to use it
Use this tense when you want to talk about something that was happening for some time before another event or time in the past.
Key forms
- had been + verb-ing
- Example: She had been studying.
Examples
They had been waiting for an hour when the bus arrived.
He had been living in London before he moved to Paris.
We had been playing football until it started to rain.
Tips
- Always use 'had been' plus the '-ing' form of the verb.
- Do not use this tense for actions that happened only once or were very quick.
- Be careful not to confuse it with the past perfect (had + past participle).