Past Perfect Continuous

USE 1 Duration Before Something in the Past

We use the Past Perfect Continuous to show that something started in the past and continued up until another time in the past. "For five minutes" and "for two weeks" are both durations which can be used with the Past Perfect Continuous. Notice that this is related to the Present Perfect Continuous; however, the duration does not continue until now, it stops before something else in the past.

Examples:

• They had been talking for over an hour before Tony arrived.
• She had been working at that company for three years when it went out of business.
• How long had you been waiting to get on the bus?
• Mike wanted to sit down because he had been standing all day at work.
• James had been teaching at the university for more than a year before he left for Asia.
• A: How long had you been studying Turkish before you moved to Ankara?
  B: I had not been studying Turkish very long.

  Past Continuous vs. Past Perfect Continuous

  If you do not include a duration such as "for five minutes," "for two weeks" or "since Friday," many English speakers choose to use the Past Continuous rather than the Past Perfect Continuous. Be careful because this can change the meaning of the sentence. Past Continuous emphasizes interrupted actions, whereas Past Perfect Continuous emphasizes a duration of time before something in the past. Study the examples below to understand the difference.
  Examples:
  

  • He was tired because he was exercising so hard.
    This sentence emphasizes that he was tired because he was exercising at that exact moment.
  • He was tired because he had been exercising so hard.
    This sentence emphasizes that he was tired because he had been exercising over a period of time. It is possible that he was still exercising at that moment OR that he had just finished.

  REMEMBER Non-Continuous Verbs / Mixed Verbs

  It is important to remember that Non-Continuous Verbs cannot be used in any continuous tenses. Also, certain non-continuous meanings for Mixed Verbs cannot be used in continuous tenses. Instead of using Past Perfect Continuous with these verbs, you must use Past Perfect.
  Examples:
  

  • The motorcycle had been belonging to George for years before Tina bought it. Not Correct
  • The motorcycle had belonged to George for years before Tina bought it. Correct

  
  

Adjectives as nouns

ADJECTIVES AS NOUNS

1. NATIONALITIES

2. SPECIFIC GROUPS OF PEOPLE

3. ONE, ONES

1. To talk about nationalities we have different possibilities:

A. You can use THE + ADJ: The English are reserved.

B. Or ADJ + PEOPLE: English people are reserved.

C. Special noun: Spaniards love bullfights.

A. THE + ADJ:

• You can use THE + ADJ with nationality adjectives that end in –sh,

-ch, -ss, or –es:

 The French are romantic.

 The English love tea.

 The Swiss are very punctual.

 The Chinese work a lot.

Nationality words which end in –an and some others , add –s to the

adjective (they’re also nouns):

 The Argentinians talk a lot.

 The Italians are good fun.

 The Greeks love their history.

 The Thais are shy.

B. ADJ + PEOPLE:

 With any nationality you can use the ADJECTIVE + PEOPLE, without

the article:

 English people are reserved.

 French people are romantic.

 Greek people love their history.

 Argentinian people talk a lot.

C. SPECIAL NOUN :

 Some nationalities have a special noun which is different from the

adjective. In these cases you can either use the options mentioned

before:

 THE + ADJ

 ADJ + PEOPLE

   OR  THE + NOUN

EXAMPLES :

Spain                                 The Spaniards

Sweden                              The Swedes

Scotland                             The Scots

Denmark                            The Danes

Finland                               The Finns

Turkey                                The Turks

Poland                                The Poles

 To talk about ONE person you can use A + NOUN, (if there’s noun), if

not, or if you want specify the gender, you must use the ADJ + WOMAN, BOY, etc.

 A Pole

 An Italian

 A Greek

 A French boy

 A Japanese girl

They’re are usually written as two words but occasionally you can

also find them as one word.

 A Frenchman

 An Englishman

2. You can use THE + ADJ to talk about specific groups of people in society. These expressions are always plural.

 The poor are poorer now than before.

 The rich are fewer and fewer.

 The unemployed have no choices.

 The young don’t like having rules.

3. When you don’t want to repeat a noun after an adjective because it is already clear what we’re talking about, we use ADJ + ONE or ONES (plural). This structure is very common in spoken English.

  Would you like a big ice-cream or a small one?

  A: Do you prefer teaching younger or older children?

     B: The younger ones are easier to teach, I’d say.