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Past Perfect Progressive Tense
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What Is the Past Perfect Progressive Tense? (with Examples)
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.
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.
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?
[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?
Infographic for the Past Perfect Progressive Tense

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 |
---|---|---|---|---|
|
The simple past tense is for a completed activity that happened in the past.
|
The past progressive tense is for an ongoing activity in the past. Often, it is used to set the scene for another action.
|
The past perfect tense is for emphasizing that an action was completed before another took place.
|
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|
|
The simple present tense is mostly for a fact or a habit.
|
The present progressive tense is for an ongoing action in the present.
|
The present perfect tense is for an action that began in the past. (Often, the action continues into the present.)
|
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|
|
The simple future tense is for an action that will occur in the future.
|
The future progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will occur in the future.
|
The future perfect tense is for an action that will have been completed at some point in the future.
|
The future perfect progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will be completed at some specified time in the future.
|
Video Lesson
The Other Past Tenses
The past perfect progressive tense is one of four past tenses. This table shows all four of the past tenses:The 4 Past Tenses | Example |
---|---|
simple past tense | I went |
past progressive tense | I was going |
past perfect tense | I had gone |
past perfect progressive tense | I had been going |
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See Also
See all the tenses What is a verb phrase? Take a test on the past perfect progressive tense Simple past tense Past progressive tense Past perfect tense Simple present tense Present progressive tense Present perfect tense Present perfect progressive tense Simple future tense Future progressive tense Future perfect tense Future perfect progressive tensePage URL