The Past Perfect Progressive Tense
The formation of the progressive form of the Past Perfect in English is done by using the auxiliary verb been and adding the ing-form of the verb.
| had + | been + | ing-form | |
| They | had | been | driving several hours before they arrived in Italy. |
| Sandra | had | been | working for her employer 3 years before she quit. |
| The candidate | had | been | waiting for 50 minutes before he was interviewed. |
Past Perfect Progressive vs. Past Progressive
- The correct use of the Past Perfect Progressive can be quite tricky in several cases. One has to notice that this tense is always used when emphasising and expressing the duration of an activity. If you want to know how long the activity happened, you use this tense. Important is the indication of the timeframe.
They had been driving for several hours before they arrived in Italy.
Sandra had been working for 3 years before she quit.
The candidate had been waiting for 50 minutes before he was interviewed.
As you can see in the examples above, an action is interrupted by another. Be careful in such cases as the one described below:
- If several events happened at the same time, the Past Progressive is used. There is no indication of the timeframe or length.
When they arrived at the top of the mountain, the wind was blowing.
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