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Unit 10
Past Perfect Progressive

When you want to refer to an action, a state, or an event that origi-

nated prior to another time in the past but is still ongoing or
incomplete, use the past perfect progressive.
ONGOING STATE: I had been having frequent headaches, so I
decided to visit a doctor.
INCOMPLETE ACTION: We had been making plans when someone
interrupted us.
You can also use the past perfect progressive to refer to a hypothet-
ical action or event.
HYPOTHETICAL ACTION: If they had been paying attention, they
would have found the clues.
Sentences such as this one will be discussed in more detail in
Part IV.
The past perfect progressive consists of two auxiliary verbs, have
and be, and the -ing form of the main verb. The auxiliary verb had
comes first, and it is marked for tense.
Next comes the perfect/passive form of the verb be —been. The
final element of the past perfect progressive is the -ing form of the
main verb.
Singular Plural
First Person I had been we had been verb + ing
verb + ing
Second Person you had been you had been verb + ing
verb + ing
Third Person he, she, it had they had been verb + ing
been verb + ing

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76 The Past Tense

exercise 10-1
Complete each sentence with the past perfect progressive form of the verb in parentheses.

1. I (work) ten-hour days, so I was very tired.

2. We (discuss) that issue when the supervisor walked in.

3. They (study) English since they came in 2017.

4. The company’s profits (increase) until they dropped in

December.

5. They (play) soccer together for years.

6. It (rain) all day, so the game was postponed.

7. The children (watch) television before we arrived.

8. He (write) newspaper editorials for twenty years.

9. Sally (study) since 6:00 A.M.

10. I (work) for the telephone company before I came here.

Forming Negatives

To make a past perfect progressive verb negative, place not after the auxiliary verb had.
had not been going

exercise 10-2
Complete each of the following sentences with the negative form of the past perfect progressive. Use the subject and
verb provided.
EXAMPLE: We, expect, not
We had not been expecting your call.

1. The supervisor, assign, not

much work lately.

2. The weather, improve, not

, so we returned home.

3. Jodi and I, follow, not

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Past Perfect Progressive 77

his directions.

4. They, check, not

the oil in their car frequently enough.

5. She, ignore, not

the phone messages.

6. You, get, not

to work on time.

7. I, exercise, not
, so I was feeling sluggish.

Forming Contractions

Contractions are often formed by combining pronouns and the auxiliary verb had or by com-
bining the auxiliary verb had and not. You will often hear these contractions in conversation or
see them in informal writing, but you will rarely find them used in formal contexts.
Notice that an apostrophe indicates that at least one letter is omitted:
I’d been going I hadn’t been going
You’d been going You hadn’t been going
He’d been going He hadn’t been going
She’d been going She hadn’t been going
It’d been going It hadn’t been going
We’d been going We hadn’t been going
They’d been going They hadn’t been going

exercise 10-3
Use the pronoun and verb given to create a sentence that contains a contraction. If not is also given, use a negative
contraction.
EXAMPLE: We, hope
We’d been hoping for a nice day.

1. He, expect, not

a phone call.

2. It, change
slowly.

3. We, hope
for good news.
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78 The Past Tense

4. They, look, not

in the right places.

5. She, lie
on the couch when the doorbell rang.

6. You, joke, not

about the possible danger.

7. I, think
about you when your letter arrived.

Forming Yes/ No Questions

To form yes/no questions, begin the question with the auxiliary verb have. After a tensed form of
have (had), place the subject, the perfect/passive form of the auxiliary verb be (been), and the
-ing form of the main verb.
Statement: She had been doing all her work.
Yes/no question: Had she been doing all her work?

exercise 10-4
Rewrite the following statements as yes/no questions.
EXAMPLE: The administration had been putting pressure on the employees.
Had the administration been putting pressure on the employees?

1. You had been working too hard.

2. He had been living by himself.

3. She had been talking too loudly.

4. They had been waiting a long time.

5. The suspect had been telling the truth.

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Past Perfect Progressive 79

Forming Wh-Questions

In wh-questions, when the question word is the subject of the sentence, the form of the question
is similar to the form of a statement.
Statement: Joseph had been driving when the accident happened.
Wh-question: Who had been driving when the accident happened?

When the question word is any other part of the sentence, the auxiliary verb had comes after the
question word and is followed by the subject, the auxiliary verb been, and the -ing form of the
main verb.
Statement: She had been living in St. Louis at the time.
Wh-question: Where had she been living at the time?

exercise 10-5
Complete the following questions based on the statements provided.
EXAMPLE: The band had been playing together for five years.
How long had the band been playing together?

1. Michelle had been making the arrangements.

Who

2. He had been thinking about moving for the last few months.
How long

3. They had been using my old computer before the new shipment arrived.
What

4. Vladimir had been leading the discussion when the argument started.
Who

5. They had been working on the project since June.

How long

Summary of Tense-Aspect Combinations

TENSE/ASPECT PAST

simple simple past: talked

progressive past progressive: was/were talking
perfect past perfect: had talked
perfect progressive past perfect progressive: had been talking