Past Perfect Continuous: rules and exercises

See it in action

Read or listen first. Don’t worry about the rules yet — just notice the verbs in bold.

Late again

When Tom finally arrived, Sara had been waiting for forty minutes.

It had been raining all afternoon, so she was wet and cold.

Tom’s train had been moving very slowly because of the storm.

He had been trying to call her, but his phone was dead.

He was out of breath — he’d been running all the way from the station.

Quick check

How do we make the verbs in bold?

Quick check

Why was Sara wet and cold when Tom arrived?

When to use it

1. An activity that lasted until a moment in the past

She started talking on the phone twenty minutes before the doorbell rang and was still talking when it rang.

She’d been talking on the phone for twenty minutes when the doorbell rang.

2. The cause of a past situation

He had been running just before that moment, and we could see the result: he was out of breath.

He was out of breath because he’d been running.

Her eyes were red — she’d been crying.

Quick check

“Her eyes were red — she’d been crying.” When was she crying?

Practise this

Form: had been + -ing

The form is the same for every subject.

Past perfect continuous of “wait”
	All subjects
Positive	she had been waiting (she’d been)
Negative	she hadn’t been waiting
Question	Had she been waiting…?
Short answer	Yes, she had. / No, she hadn’t.

We had been waiting for an hour when the bus finally came.

She hadn’t been waiting for long when the bus came.not … for long = only a short time.

Had you been working there long?

Spelling the -ing: most verbs just add -ing (wait → waiting); drop a final -e (make → making); double one consonant after one short stressed vowel (run → running, but visit → visiting); -ie becomes -y (lie → lying); -ee and -y stay (see → seeing, study → studying).

Find any -ing form

Base: run
-ing form: running

Short verbs ending in one vowel + one consonant double the consonant: run → running. Present continuous: I am running · she is running.

Quick check

They had ___ waiting for an hour.

Practise this

for, since and How long…?

for + a length of time · since + the starting point.

They had been playing for two hours when the storm started.

They had been playing since lunchtime when the storm started.

How long had you been waiting when the taxi came?How long + had + subject + been + -ing?

Wrong: How long did you been waiting?How long had you been waiting?

Quick check

They had been playing ___ lunchtime when the storm started.

Practise this

had been doing or had done?

B1–B2

Use the continuous for the activity and how long it lasted; use the simple for a completed amount or result.

I’d been writing emails for three hours: we look at the activity and how long it lasted.

I’d written twenty emails: we look at the finished amount before lunchtime.

By lunchtime, I’d been writing emails for three hours.

By lunchtime, I’d written twenty emails.A completed amount: simple.

If the job wasn’t finished, only the continuous works: the simple would mean it was done.

She had been painting the fence all morning, but she still hadn’t finished.

State verbs (know, have, want, believe, belong…) stay in the simple:

Wrong: They had been knowing each other for years.They had known each other for years when they got married.

With live, work and study + for, both forms are fine: She had lived / had been living there for years.

Quick check

By the time she got home, she ___ five chapters of the book.

Practise this

had been doing or had done?

had been doing or was doing?

When the phone rang, I was cooking: in the middle of it at that moment.

When the phone rang, I’d been cooking for two hours: how long it had gone on before that moment.

When the phone rang, I was cooking.In progress at that moment.

When the phone rang, I’d been cooking for two hours.How long before that moment.

Wrong: When the phone rang, I was cooking for two hours.When the phone rang, I’d been cooking for two hours.

Quick check

When the phone rang, I ___ for two hours.

Practise this

had been doing or was doing?

Advanced uses

B2–C2

Once the basics feel easy, use it to report what people said, imagine a different past and talk about regrets.

Show the advanced uses

Reported speech

When you report someone’s words later, have / has been + -ing moves back to had been + -ing. Change the person too (I → she, my → her); that is optional.

“I’ve been waiting for ages,” she said. → She said she had been waiting for ages.

“We’ve been painting our kitchen,” they said. → They said (that) they’d been painting their kitchen.

Third conditional

It imagines a different past: an activity that was (or wasn’t) going on, and what would have been different. Form: If + had (not) been + -ing, … would (not) have + participle. No would in the if-part.

If he hadn’t been driving so fast, he wouldn’t have crashed.He was driving fast, and he crashed.

If she had been wearing a helmet, she wouldn’t have been hurt.She wasn’t wearing one.

Wrong: If he wouldn’t have been driving so fast…If he hadn’t been driving so fast…

Regrets with wish

wish (he / she wishes) + had (not) been + -ing = you are sorry about an activity in the past. hadn’t been means it really was going on.

I wish I hadn’t been sitting so close to the stage.I was sitting close, and it was too loud.

She wishes she had been paying more attention.She wasn’t paying attention.

Quick check

“If he hadn’t been driving so fast, he wouldn’t have crashed.” Was he driving fast?

Practise this

Common mistakes

All

Wrong: She had being waiting.She had been waiting.

Wrong: They had been waited for an hour.They had been waiting for an hour.

Wrong: He has been working all day when I called.He had been working all day when I called.The story is in the past.

Wrong: She didn’t been sleeping well.She hadn’t been sleeping well.

Wrong: They had been knowing each other for years.They had known each other for years.State verbs: simple form.

Wrong: She had been runing.She had been running.

Wrong: Had she been crying? — Yes, she was.Had she been crying? — Yes, she had.Answer with had, not was or did.

Wrong: Yes, I’d.Yes, I had.Don’t contract positive short answers.

Remember

Use it for an activity that went on up to a moment in the past: I’d been waiting for an hour when the bus came.
Form: had been + -ing for every subject.
It often explains a past result: She was tired because she’d been running.
for + a length of time, since + the starting point; How long had you been…?
Completed amounts and state verbs use the simple form: had written five emails, had known.

Practise the past perfect continuous

Pick your level. Gap-fills, How long…? questions, causes, simple vs continuous, “find the mistake” and more — new exercises every time.

Sample exercises by level:A1 · A2 · B1 · B2 · C1 · C2

Ready to try it?

Practise the past perfect continuous