Past perfect continuous tense
| Structure of past perfect continuous | ||
| positive | negative | question |
| I / you / he / she / it / we / they had been going. |
I / you / he / she / it / we / they hadn’t been going. |
Had I / you / he / she / it / we / they been going? |
| Past perfect continuous – common mistakes | ||
| Common mistakes | Correct version | Why? |
| I had working hard, so I felt very tired. I had been worked hard, so I felt very tired. |
I had been working hard, so I felt very tired. | The form of the past perfect continuous is had + been + verb (-ing). |
| I had been hearing the song many times before. | I had heard the song many times before. | Some verbs (called stative verbs) are not normally used in the continuous form, e.g. know, like, understand, believe, hear, etc. |
Practise this grammar
Upper-intermediate exercise: past perfect simple vs. continuous