The use of the Past Perfect Continuous

Negative

Affirmative Interrogative

The formation of the Past Perfect Continuous.

THE PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

The Present Perfect and the Present Perfect Continuous Exclusive.

The Present Perfect Continuous Inclusive and the Present Continuous.

Students should take care not to mix up the Present Perfect Continuous and the Present Continuous: the Present Continuous is used to denote an action going on at the present moment, no previous duration is expressed. The Present Perfect Continuous Inclusive is used when the previous duration of the action is expressed.

I am reading Dombey and Son.

I have been reading Dombey and Son for three days.

There is no difference in the translation:

Я читаю роман «Домби и сын».

Я читаю роман «Домби и сын» три дня.

The Present Perfect denotes a completed action while with the Present Perfect Continuous Exclusive there is an implication of incompleteness.

He has made some experiments. Он сделал несколько опытов.

He has been making experiments. Он делал опыты.

Why are your lips black? I have been eating blackberries. I have eaten a whole plateful. Я ел чернику. Я съел целую тарелку.

She is walking up and down the room thinking of the letter she has been writing and wondering how she should finish it. She is going to post the letter she has just written.

1. The Past Perfect Continuous is formed by means of the Past Perfect of the auxiliary verb to be and Participle I of the notional verb.

2. In the interrogative form the first auxiliary verb is placed before the subject. In the negative form the negative particle not is placed after the first auxiliary verb.

I had been writing Had I been writing?

He had been writing Had he been writing?

She had been writing Had she been writing?

We had been writing Had we been writing?

You had been writing Had you been writing?

They had been writing Had they been writing?

I had not been writing

He had not been writing

She had not been writing

We had not been writing

You had not been writing

They had not been writing

3. The contracted affirmative forms are:

I'd been writing She'd been writing

The contracted negative forms are:

I hadn't been writing We hadn't been writing

4. The negative-interrogative forms are:

Had he not been writing?

Hadn't he been writing?

Had you not been writing?

Hadn't you been writing?

We distinguish two uses of the Past Perfect Continuous: the Past Perfect Continuous Inclusive and the Past Perfect Continuous Exclusive.

1. The Past Perfect Continuous Inclusive denotes an action which began before a definite moment in the past, continued up to that moment and was still going on at that moment. Either the starting point of the action is indicated or the whole period of duration. The preposition for is used to denote the whole period of duration. Since is used to indicate the starting point of the action.

We could not go out because it had been raining since early morning. We could not go out because it had been raining for two hours. He had been entertaining at restaurants for thirty years and he knew how to assure the smooth passage of the meal. (Bennett)

As has been stated above, the Past Perfect Inclusive is used to express an action which began before a definite moment in the past, continued up to that moment and was still going on at that moment, with verbs not admitting of the Continuous form, in negative sentences and with certain non-terminative verbs. With verbs not admitting of the Continuous form the Past Per­fect Inclusive is the only tense possible. In negative sentences the Past Perfect Continuous Inclusive can be used, but it is far less common than the Past Perfect Inclusive. With certain non-terminative verbs both the Past Perfect Inclusive and the Past Perfect Continuous Inclusive are used.

He said he had worked for twenty years. (The fact is emphasized.) He said he had been working for a long time without achieving final results. (The process is emphasized.)

The Past Perfect Continuous Inclusive is rendered in Russian by the past imperfective.

I had been reading about an hour when he came. Я читал около часа, когда он пришел.

2. The Past Perfect Continuous Exclusive denotes an action which was no longer going on at a definite moment in the past, but which had been in progress not long before.

I sobbed a little still, but that was because I had been crying, not because I was crying then. (Dickens)

3. The Past Perfect Continuous Inclusive and the Past Con­tinuous.

The Past Perfect Continuous Inclusive should not be confused with the Past Continuous. The Past Continuous is used to denote an action going on at a definite moment in the past, no previous duration is expressed. The Past Perfect Continuous Inclusive is used when the previous duration of the action is expressed.

And now it was raining, had been raining for days the miserable fall rains of Eastern France. (Heym)

The magnificent motor-car was waiting at the kerb. It had been waiting for two hours. (Bennett)

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