Past Perfect Continuous Tense Class 5 English Grammar

Past Perfect Continuous Tense Class 5 English Grammar has been prepared for learning English Grammar of Class 5 under CBSE, ICSE, and Other State boards as Lesson No 19. Class 5 students in their English Grammar learning process will get help from the Past Perfect Continuous Tense Class 5 English Grammar to achieve better speaking and writing skills in English.

This Lesson 19, Past Perfect Continuous Tense Class 5 English Grammar contains – What Past Perfect Continuous Tense is? and Past Perfect Continuous Tense Formula, Uses, with a practice worksheet at the end for better knowledge for class 5.

English Grammar eBook Class 5

Example & Definition: Past Perfect Continuous Tense Class 5 English Grammar

He had been doing the job for five years.
I had been reading History when my father came home.
Raj had been dreaming about winning the lottery.
Jai had been talking on the phone for two hours.

All the above-highlighted words talk about actions that started before a certain point of time in the past and continued up to that time.

When the verbs of the sentences refer to an action that started before a certain point of time in the past and had continued up to that time, they are in Past Perfect Continuous Tense.

Formula: Past Perfect Continuous Tense Class 5 English Grammar

The Formula of Past Perfect Continuous Tense with Positive, Negative, Interrogative, and Negative– interrogative sentences and the Past Perfect Continuous Tense chart using different persons and numbers have been shown in the following.

Past Perfect Continuous (Positive)

Formula – 1

Subject + had + been + Verb + ing + Object.

Chart – 1

Person	Singular	Plural
1st	I had been playing football.	We had been playing football.
2nd	You had been playing football.	You had been playing football.
3rd	He/She/It had been playing football.	They had been playing football.

Past Perfect Continuous (Negative)

Formula – 2

Formula: Subject + had + not + been + Verb + ing + Object.

Chart – 2

Person	Singular	Plural
1st	I had not been playing football.	We had not been playing football.
2nd	You had not been playing football.	You had not been playing football.
3rd	He / She / It had not been playing football.	They had not been playing football.

Past Perfect Continuous (Interrogative)

Formula – 3

Formula: Had + Subject + been + Verb + ing + Object?

Chart – 3

Person	Singular	Plural
1st	Had I been playing football?	Had we been playing football?
2nd	Had you been playing football?	Had are been playing football?
3rd	Had he/she/it been playing football?	Had they been playing football?

Wh-Word Question

Formula – 4

Formula: Wh-Word + had + Subject + been + Verb + ing + Object?

Example:

Where had you been staying?
Why had the baby been crying?
How long had she been doing the work?
What had they been watching for an hour?

Questions for information are made with the ‘Wh-word’. who, which, what, why, whose, whom, how are called ‘Wh-word’.

Past Perfect Continuous (Negative-Interrogative)

Formula – 5

Formula: Had + Subject + not + been + Verb + ing + Object?

Chart – 4

Person	Singular	Plural
1st	Had I not been playing football?	Had we not been playing football?
2nd	Had you not been playing football?	Had you not been playing football?
3rd	Had he/she/it not been playing football?	Had they not been playing football?

In the Negative-Interrogative sentence ‘not’ is placed before the subject noun and after the subject pronoun.

Example:

Had not Ravi been playing football? (Before subject noun)
Had he not been playing football? (After subject pronoun)

Uses: Past Perfect Continuous Tense Class 5 English Grammar

1. To indicate an action that began before a certain point of time in the past and still continued up to that time.

Example:

When I returned home, I found my brother had still been sleeping.
He had been studying when I went to his home.

2. To indicate an action in progress before sometime in the past.

Example:

It had been raining for two hours.
They had been practising soccer for one hour.

3. To come to a conclusion.

Example:

Soham’s eyes were red and swollen, he had been crying.

4. Uses of ‘since’ and ‘for’ are the same as shown in Present Perfect Continuous Tense.

Example:

Ravi had been working since morning.
Ankita had been performing for two hours on the stage.

‘Since’ is used to refer to Point of time. ‘For’ is used to refer to a Period of time.

Past Perfect Continuous Tense Exercises

Exercise – 1

A. Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verbs given in the brackets.

1. My friend and I ________ (stare) at the sea for an hour before we could see a ship.

2. The thief feared that the police ________ (watch) for him.

3. I ________ (prepare) for the exam for last three months when I received father’s letter.

4. The robbers ________ (run) away before the police arrived.

5. She gaged at him as if he ________ (go) mad.

6. Before she left the house, she wanted to be sure if she ________ (shut) the room.

7. The pilot said that he ________ (fly) this type of plane for four years.

8. When the worker ________ (finish) their work, they returned home.

9. The children felt tired as they ________ (play) for several hours.

10. She woke up at night and although she ________ (think) he ________ (lock) the door she ________ (go) downstairs to ________ (see).

Exercise – 2

B. Taking hints from the words provided, Complete the following statements in the past perfect continuous tense. One is done for you.

1. I had been giving dictation to my secretary,

(Dictation to my secretary)

2. I had been sleeping in my cabin.

(Sleep in my cabin)

3. I had been talking on phone…

(Talk on phone)

4. I had been working on computer.

(Work on computer)

5. I had been reading an important file.

(Read an important file)

6. I had been preparing a business plane

(Prepare a business plan)

6. I had been attending a meeting

(Attend a meeting)

7. I had been costing lunch in mess.

(Eating lunch in mess)

8. I had been waiting for Abr brupta

(Wait for Mr Gupta)

9. I had bun cleaning chairman’s cabin.

(Clean Chairman’s cabin)

10.He had been talking for one hour.

(Talk – one hour)

11. He had been sleeping for three hours.

(Sleep three hours)

12. He had been watching TV since noon.

(Watch TV – noon)

13. She had been reading newspaper far

(Read newspaper – 5 o’clock)

14. He had been waiting for bus for

(Wait for bus – half an hour)

16.He had been driving for an hour.

( Drive – an hour)

15. He had been swimming for two hours.

(Swim – two hours)

16. He had been repairing car since whole day.

(Repair car – whole day)

17. They had been chatting over dinner since evening

( Chat over dinner – evening)

18.He had been relaxing on beach since afternoon.

(Relax on beach – afternoon)

19. She had been celebrating with her friends since 10 o’clock.

(Celebrate with friends – 10 o’clock]

20. They had been dancing for an hour.

(Dance – an hour)

Exercise – 3

C. Read the following sentences and tick (✔) the correct options from the choices given in the boxes.

1. She had been dancing since/for the age of five.

2. They had been planning to start a dance group since/for ten years.

3. Ramit had been working in a school since/for July ’10 before leaving it for a bank job.

4. She had been learning French since/for one year.

5. I had been going to that restaurant since/for February,

6. The company had been producing good products since/for over twenty years.

7. The country had been winning the World Peace Prize since/for the last two years.

8. Manan had been decorating his room since/for two hours when his parents

Exercise – 4

D. The following sentences had one error each. Find the errors and replace them with correct words.

(a) I had been living in this hostel since three years now.