when to use the Past Perfect
- for an action or event which was already completed before some point in the past. (I had washed the car.)
- for a period which started in the past and which was continuing until a past point of reference or has only just finished (I had been ill for a week when the antibiotics finally kicked in.)
- to indicate the sequence of events in the past: we use the Past Perfect (had seen) to indicate that this action happened earlier than the Simple Past (told) (I told him yesterday I had seen him on the train the day before.)
when to use the Past Perfect Continuous
- for an action which is uncompleted and which has just finished or which possibly continues past the time of speaking. (I had been washing the car.) (It is clear I was just washing the car but it is unclear whether I have completed it.)
- for an action which has started in the past, gone on up to the moment of speaking and which has just finished or which possibly continues past it (It was now ten and I was really fed up because I had been waiting for two hours already.)
- for a seemingly continuous and repeated action without mentioning the number of times it has been done (Elisa had been ringing him since breakfast.)
NOTE: The continuous occurs only with verbs that indicate duration and describe activities that are deliberate. Verbs which are not normally used in the continuous are
- verbs of the senses (see, hear, feel, etc.)
- verbs expressing feelings and emotions (love, hate, fear, hate, etc.)
- verbs expressing possession (own, possess, etc.)
- verbs expressing perception, remembrance, preference, knowledge (mean, know, believe, forget, understand, appreciate, etc.)
Exercises
Past Perfect (I had gone) and Past Perfect Continuous (I had been going)
- exercise 1: fill in the correct verb form of the past perfect or present perfect continuous
- exercise 2: fill in the correct verb form of the past perfect or present perfect continuous (plus explanation)
- exercise 3: fill in the correct verb form of the past perfect or present perfect continuous
- exercise 4: fill in the correct verb form of the past perfect or present perfect continuous
- exercise 5: two exercises practising the use and form of the past perfect or present perfect continuous
- exercise 6: fill in the correct verb form of the past perfect or present perfect continuous