Past perfect Continuous

Past Perfect Continuous Tense

FORMATION

AFFIRMATIVE: Subject + HV ( had been ) + Ving + Object + since / for + time.
NEGATIVE: Subject + HV ( had not been )  + Ving + Object + since / for + time..
INTERROGATIVE: HV ( Had ) + Subject + been + Ving + Object + since / for + time?
WH-QUESTION; Wh- word + HV ( had ) + Subject + been +Ving + Object + + since / for + time. ?

• In this tense, in affirmative sentences with the singular subject and the plural both use helping verb ‘had been’ and use 1st form +ing with all the subjects. For expression of time always use ‘since’ or ‘for’
• Since: for point of time: eg. - since two/ three/ five o'clock; since morning/ evening/ afternoon
• For: for period of time: e.g. - for two/ three/ five/ ten minutes/ hours/ weeks/ months/ years 
• In negative sentences ‘not’ will take place just after the helping verb ‘had’.
• In interrogative sentences helping verb ‘had’, will take place before the subject and ‘been’ will remain at the same place.USES

USE

1. To describe an action which continued in the past for a given period of time before another past action: 
Examples:
(i) We had been working for two hours when you came.
(ii) The gardener had been watering the plants since morning.

2. To describe something that finished just before another event in the past. This is usually used to show a result at a time in the past.
Examples:
Mohan was tired because he had been jogging.
Sohan gained weight because he had been overeating.
Bunty failed the final test because he had not been attending class.