Grammar: ⚙️ Verbs in Depth: ⏳ Perfect Continuous & Future Perfect Tenses (B2) - Lesson 4: Past Perfect Continuous (Duration of an action before another past action)

Grammar: Perfect Tenses

B2 Lesson 4: Past Perfect Continuous

What you will learn: By the end of this lesson, you will be able to use the Past Perfect Continuous to emphasize the duration of an action that was in progress before another event in the past.

Why It Matters: Completion vs. Duration

The difference between the Past Perfect Simple and Continuous is all about focus. Do you want to talk about a completed result or the long action that caused it?

Past Perfect Simple

"When I got home, my brother had cooked dinner."
(Focus on completion. The result: dinner was ready.)

Past Perfect Continuous

"When I got home, the kitchen was a mess because my brother had been cooking."
(Focus on duration. The result: a mess from the long activity.)

The Grammar Rule 📖

Past Perfect Continuous

We use this tense to show an activity continued for some time before being interrupted or stopped by another past event.

Subject + had + been + Verb-ing

• Positive: "She had been waiting for 30 minutes when the bus finally arrived."
• Negative: "He hadn't been sleeping well for weeks before he went to the doctor."
• Question: "Had you been living in Battambang long before you met him?"

This tense often answers the question "How long had this been happening?"

💡 Pro Tip: Remember Stative Verbs!

Just like other continuous tenses, we do not use the Past Perfect Continuous with stative verbs (like know, own, believe, love). Use the Past Perfect Simple instead.

Correct: "He had owned the cafe for five years before he sold it."
Incorrect: "He had been owning the cafe..."

Practice Your Grammar 🎯

Exercise: Choose the Correct Tense

Complete the sentences with the correct Past Perfect Simple or Continuous form of the verb in brackets.

1. He didn't hear the phone ring because he ______ (listen) to loud music.
   → Answer: had been listening (Focus on the continuous background action.)
2. By the time she turned 25, she ______ (visit) over 15 countries.
   → Answer: had visited (Focus on the completed result/number.)
3. The streets were flooded because it ______ (rain) heavily all night.
   → Answer: had been raining (Focus on the duration of the action that caused a past result.)
4. When he finally got the job, he ______ (apply) for positions for over six months.
   → Answer: had been applying (The phrase "for over six months" emphasizes the duration.)

Your Grammar Mission ⭐

What Had Been Happening?

For each situation, write one sentence using the Past Perfect Continuous to describe the background action that caused it.

1. Situation: I finally passed my exam. (Reason: I studied for weeks).
   Example: "I finally passed my exam because I had been studying for weeks."
2. Situation: The children were very dirty. (Reason: They played outside all afternoon).
   Example: "The children were very dirty because they had been playing outside all afternoon."

Key Vocabulary

• Past Perfect Continuous
  A tense used to show that an action was happening for a duration before another past event.
• Emphasis (Noun) | ការសង្កត់ធ្ងន់
  Special importance or attention given to something.
• Duration (Noun) | រយៈពេល
  The length of time that something continues.
• Stative Verb (Noun) | កិរិយាស័ព្ទប្រាប់សភាព
  A verb describing a state of being, not an action (e.g., know, love, own).