Past Perfect Progressive Tense

What Is the Past Perfect Progressive Tense?

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The past perfect progressive tense is used to show that an ongoing action in the past has ended. For example:

John had been baking a cake.
They had been painting the fence.

Table of Contents

More Examples of the Past Perfect Progressive Tense
Forming the Past Perfect Progressive Tense
Interactive Verb Conjugation Tables
Video Lesson
Test Time!

More Examples of the Past Perfect Progressive Tense

Here are some more examples of the past perfect progressive tense (shaded):

She had been painting the door before the dog scratched it.
The jury had been considering its verdict for several hours when the judge effectively ordered them to find Jones guilty.
He just couldn't summon the energy. He had been working at the dock all afternoon.
I was coming home from kindergarten. Well, they told me it was kindergarten. I found out later I had been working in a factory for ten years. (Comedian Ellen DeGeneres)
Many people had been asking me to write an autobiography. I thought I'd better tell my story before other people told it for me. (Comedian Michael Palin)

Forming the Past Perfect Progressive Tense

The past perfect progressive tense is formed:

[subject]

"had been"

[present participle]

I had been jumping.
They had been meeting.

Forming the Present Participle

The last word in each example above (i.e. the [verb] + "ing" part) is known as a present participle. It is formed like this:

Add "ing" to most verbs:

play > playing
shout > shouting

For verbs that end "e," remove the "e" and add "ing":

prepare > preparing
ride > riding

For verbs that end "ie," change the "ie" to "y" and add "ing":

lie > lying
untie > untying

For verbs whose last syllable is written [consonant-vowel-consonant] and is stressed, double the final consonant and add "ing":

run > running
forget > forgetting

The Negative Version

If you need the negative version, you can use the following construction:

[subject]

"had not been"

[present participle]

She had not been painting the door.
The jury had not been considering its verdict for very long when the judge effectively ordered them to find Jones guilty.
He had plenty of energy. He had not been working at the dock at all that afternoon.

Remember that "had not" is sometimes written as the contraction "hadn't."

The Question Version

If you need to ask a question, you can use the following word order for a yes/no question:

"had"

[subject]

"been"

[present participle]

Had she been painting the door?
Had the jury been considering its verdict for very long when the judge ordered them to find Jones guilty?
Why was he so tired? Had he been working at the dock all afternoon?

You can use the following word order for a question-word question:

[question word]

"had"

[subject]

"been"

[present participle]

When had she been painting the door?
Why was he so tired? Why had he been working at the dock all afternoon?

Interactive Verb Conjugation Tables

The tables below show all 12 tenses so you can see the past perfect progressive tense among the other tenses. (You can change the verb by clicking one of the green buttons.)

Top 10 Regular Verbs

Top 10 Irregular Verbs

All 4 Past Tenses

Person	Simple Past	Past Progressive Tense	Past Perfect Tense	Past Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	past tense past tense past tense past tense past tense past tense The simple past tense is for a completed activity that happened in the past.	was present participle were present participle was present participle were present participle were present participle were present participle The past progressive tense is for an ongoing activity in the past. Often, it is used to set the scene for another action.	had past participle had past participle had past participle had past participle had past participle had past participle The past perfect tense is for emphasizing that an action was completed before another took place.	had been present participle had been present participle had been present participle had been present participle had been present participle had been present participle The past perfect progressive tense is for showing that an ongoing action in the past has ended.

All 4 Present Tenses

Person	Simple Present	Present Progressive Tense	Present Perfect Tense	Present Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	base form base form 3rd pers sing present base form base form base form The simple present tense is mostly for a fact or a habit.	am present participle are present participle is present participle are present participle are present participle are present participle The present progressive tense is for an ongoing action in the present.	have past participle have past participle has past participle have past participle have past participle have past participle The present perfect tense is for an action that began in the past. (Often, the action continues into the present.)	have been present participle have been present participle has been present participle have been present participle have been present participle have been present participle The present perfect progressive tense is for a continuous activity that began in the past and continues into the present (or finished very recently).

All 4 Future Tenses

Person	Simple Future	Future Progressive Tense	Future Perfect Tense	Future Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	will base form will base form will base form will base form will base form will base form The simple future tense is for an action that will occur in the future.	will be present participle will be present participle will be present participle will be present participle will be present participle will be present participle The future progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will occur in the future.	will have past participle will have past participle will have past participle will have past participle will have past participle will have past participle The future perfect tense is for an action that will have been completed at some point in the future.	will have been present participle will have been present participle will have been present participle will have been present participle will have been present participle will have been present participle The future perfect progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will be completed at some specified time in the future.