Where do we use past perfect and past perfect continuous?

We use the past perfect simple with action verbs to emphasise the completion of an event. We use the past perfect continuous to show that an event or action in the past was still continuing.

What is the difference between past perfect and past perfect continuous?

Past Perfect vs Past Perfect Continuous The past perfect tense expresses a past action, already finished when another past action happened; the past perfect continuous tense describes a past action which started in the past and continued to happen after another action or time in the past.

What are the uses of past perfect continuous tense?

The past perfect continuous tense (also known as the past perfect progressive tense) shows that an action that started in the past continued up until another time in the past. The past perfect continuous tense is constructed using had been + the verb’s present participle (root + -ing).

When should use past perfect?

We can use the past perfect to show the order of two past events. The past perfect shows the earlier action and the past simple shows the later action. When the police arrived, the thief had escaped. It doesn’t matter in which order we say the two events.

What is the difference between past continuous tense and past perfect continuous tense?

Both past continuous and past perfect continuous tenses can be used to talk about actions or situations that were in progress at a certain point of time in the past. While the past continuous merely shows continuity, the past perfect continuous tense also puts an emphasis on the idea of duration.

What is the difference between continuous and perfect continuous?

The fact is that the cooking wasn’t complete so they didn’t have anything to eat so that means that while the past continuous shows us a long continuing action that is in progress at a specific moment in the past, the past perfect continuous shows us a long continuing action that isn’t necessarily in progress at a …

What are the examples of past perfect continuous tense?

Examples of Past Perfect Continuous Tense

I had been writing articles on various topics for three hours.
He had been reading different kinds of books since morning.
They had been playing football in that field before it started to rain.
Jane had been gossiping in the coffee shop for two hours.

What are the three uses of past perfect tense?

Using the Past Perfect

A finished action before a second point in the past. When we arrived, the film had started (= first the film started, then we arrived).
Something that started in the past and continued up to another action or time in the past.
To talk about unreal or imaginary things in the past.

What is the difference between past tense and past perfect tense?

We use the simple past to say what happened in the past, often in sequential order. The past perfect expresses events and actions that occurred prior to another past action (usually expressed in the simple past). In spoken English, it is common to use only the simple past and not the past perfect.

What is the past perfect continuous tense?

The Past Perfect Continuous Tense is very similar to the Past Perfect Tense. We use it to express something that started in the past and continued until another event happened in the past. In other words, it is a continuous occurrence in the past that stopped at another specific point in the past.

How do you change the passive voice of past perfect continuous?

The passive voice changes ‘x does something to y’ to ‘y has something done to it by x’. To turn the past perfect continuous into its passive voice: 1. swap the subject and object 2. change ‘had been …ing’ to ‘had been being + p.p.’

What is the difference between past perfect tense and past perfect passive?

The Past Perfect Passive has the exact same meaning as the Past Perfect Tense. The only difference is that it is in the passive voice. The word order and structure are slightly different.

What does the use of the past perfect tense indicate?

The use of the Past Perfect tense indicates that the actions of hearing the news and finishing the work were already completed by the time the actions expressed by the verbs in the Simple Past took place. b. Formation The Past Perfect tense is formed from the Simple Past of the auxiliary to have, followed by the past participle of the verb.