Past Perfect vs Past Perfect Continuous

Exercises

Explanation

The key difference:

• Past Perfect → focuses on what happened first

• Past Perfect Continuous → focuses on how long the action continued

1. Past Perfect – Form and Meaning

Form: had + past participle (V3)

We use the Past Perfect to talk about a completed action that happened before another past action.

Examples

• I had finished my homework before the guests arrived.

• She had locked the door before she left the office.

• They had never visited London before they moved there.

Question Form: Had + subject + V3?

• Had he cooked dinner before they came home?

Negative: had not (hadn’t) + V3

• I hadn’t seen the message before I called you.

2. Past Perfect Continuous – Form and Meaning

Form: had been + verb-ing

We use the Past Perfect Continuous to show that an action was in progress for some time before another past action. It often highlights duration or the cause of a past situation.

Examples

• She had been studying for two hours before the exam started.

• They had been walking for a long time before they found a café.

• He was out of breath because he had been running.

Question Form: Had + subject + been + verb-ing?

• Had you been waiting long before the shop opened?

Negative: had not (hadn’t) been + verb-ing

• They hadn’t been working long before the break.

3. When Do We Use Each Tense?

A. Past Perfect = completed action

Focus on the result or what happened first.

• She had packed her suitcase before the taxi arrived.

• I had read the book before I watched the movie.

B. Past Perfect Continuous = long action

Focus on the duration or ongoing activity.

• She had been working on the project all morning before her boss checked it.

• The children had been playing outside before it got dark.

4. Stative Verbs – Important Rule

We do not use the Continuous form with stative verbs (verbs of feelings, senses, possession, thoughts).

So we use the Past Perfect, not the Past Perfect Continuous:

• Correct: I had known him for years before we became friends.
  Incorrect: I had been knowing him…

• Correct: They had owned the house for a long time before they sold it.
  Incorrect: They had been owning…

Common stative verbs:
know, believe, like, love, want, need, see, hear, own, belong, understand, remember, mean

5. Time Expressions for Both Tenses

Useful words that show the earlier action:

• before

• when

• by / by the time

• since

• for

• until / till

• already

• just

Examples

• By the time we arrived, they had started eating.

• She had been working there since 2018 before she changed jobs.

• They hadn’t been sleeping well until they moved.

6. Quick Comparison

7. Summary

Use Past Perfect to talk about what happened first.
Use Past Perfect Continuous to talk about how long something had been happening before another past event.

Both tenses help make stories and explanations in the past clearer and more logical.