Past perfect continuous tense

Affirmative

I had been writing.
She had been writing.
You had been writing.

Negative

I had not been writing.
She had not been writing.
You had not been writing.

Question

Had I been writing?
Had she been writing?
Had you been writing?

use

We use the past perfect progressive to talk about longer actions or situations which had continued up to the past moment that we are thinking about, or shortly before it.

• The President had been speaking for about half an hour when trouble started.
• When I found Ann, I could see that she had been crying.
• I had been reading the novel for hours when the lights suddenly went out.

past perfect and past perfect progressive: differences

The perfect progressive tenses are often used to talk about more temporary actions and situations; when we talk about longer-standing or permanent situations we prefer perfect tenses.

• My legs were stiff because I had been standing still for a long time.
• They lived in a castle which had stood on a hill above the village for 1000 years.

See also

Tenses
The simple present tense
The present progressive tense
The present perfect tense
The present perfect progressive tense
Present tenses to talk about the future
The simple past tense
The past progressive tense
The past perfect tense
The past perfect progressive tense
Past verb forms with present or future meaning
The simple future tense
The future progressive tense
The future perfect tense

More CBSE English Grammar worksheets

Passive voice worksheet | Simple past tense
Passive voice worksheet | Past continuous tense
Passive voice worksheet | Simple future tense
Passive voice worksheet | Future perfect tense