Tenses are a wide topic in English Grammar since there are so many types and sub-types. In this article, however, we’re going to take look into past perfect progressive tense examples.
An action that took place and continued to take place for a while in the past is known as Past Perfect Progressive Tense.
Past perfect progressive tense sentences
- My friend had been running for five miles already.
- We had been walking for half an hour.
- Father had been sitting in his favorite chair all morning.
- The students had been standing under the scorching sun.
- The kids had been dancing while the teacher was away.
- The birds had been singing for a while during the afternoon.
- He had been doing push-ups when the light went out.
- My niece had been drinking juice straight from the bottle.
- We had been eating all day because of the festival.
- My colleagues had been finishing the task before our boss arrived.
- The students had been learning about the laws of nature.
- Ms. Smith had been teaching at our school for twenty years back then.
- The father had been lecturing his son on the importance of saving electricity.
- The preacher had been preaching inspirational stories to his followers.
- The children had been playing for two hours at that point.
- The dogs had been barking quite a bit that night.
- We had been watching television as we had nothing better to do.
- My sister had been drawing human figures all day.
- The stranded man had been swimming for six hours before he found his way back to land.
- I had been getting good grades back in seventh grade.
- She had been sporting a very chic look at the party.
- The police had been stopping all the parties happening in the neighborhood.
- I realized that I had been spelling some of the words incorrectly.
- Unbeknownst to her, she had been putting foot cream on face.
- We all started tearing up, since someone had been cutting onions.
- I had been folding laundry when I got the call.
- The man had been washing his clothes in the bathroom.
- He had been writing his novel for three years before he decided to publish it.
- I had been reading an interesting book, therefore did not pay attention.
- She had been typing a rough draft to submit to her publishers.
- I had been painting different sceneries every day.
- He had been editing the manuscript given to him.
- The mother had been phoning her child to ask him where he was.
- Back then, I had been coming down with a cold.
- We had been going to school every day without any holidays.
- He did not realize that he had been opening the containers incorrectly.
- The shopkeeper had been closing his shop when we reached.
- The siblings had been annoying each other all day and night.
- The lecturer had been boring the students with his long speeches.
- She had been setting the table when someone knocked on her door.
- The dad had been preparing his daughter for a big game.
- They had been pursuing an employee from another company to work for them.
Past perfect progressive tense examples
1. My friend had been running for five miles already.
‘Had been running’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
2. We had been walking for half an hour.
‘Had been walking’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
3. Father had been sitting in his favorite chair all morning.
‘Had been sitting’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
4. The students had been standing under the scorching sun.
‘Had been standing’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
5. The kids had been dancing while the teacher was away.
‘Had been dancing’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
6. The birds had been singing for a while during the afternoon.
‘Had been singing’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
7. He had been doing push-ups when the light went out.
‘Had been doing’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
8. My niece had been drinking juice straight from the bottle.
‘Had been drinking’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
9. We had been eating all day because of the festival.
‘Had been eating’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
10. My colleagues had been finishing the task before our boss arrived.
‘Had been finishing’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
11. The students had been learning about the laws of nature.
‘Had been learning’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
12. Ms. Smith had been teaching at our school for twenty years back then.
‘Had been teaching’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
13. The father had been lecturing his son on the importance of saving electricity.
‘Had been lecturing’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
14. The preacher had been preaching inspirational stories to his followers.
‘Had been preaching’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
15. The children had been playing for two hours at that point.
‘Had been playing’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
16. The dogs had been barking quite a bit that night.
‘Had been barking’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
17. We had been watching television as we had nothing better to do.
‘Had been watching’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
18. My sister had been drawing human figures all day.
‘Had been drawing’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
19. The stranded man had been swimming for six hours before he found his way back to land.
‘Had been swimming’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
20. I had been getting good grades back in seventh grade.
‘Had been getting’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
21. She had been sporting a very chic look at the party.
‘Had been sporting’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
22. The police had been stopping all the parties happening in the neighborhood.
‘Had been stopping’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
23. I realized that I had been spelling some of the words incorrectly.
‘Had been spelling’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
24. Unbeknownst to her, she had been putting foot cream on face.
‘Had been putting’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
25. We all started tearing up, since someone had been cutting onions.
‘Had been cutting’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
26. I had been folding laundry when I got the call.
‘Had been folding’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
27. The man had been washing his clothes in the bathroom.
‘Had been washing’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
28. He had been writing his novel for three years before he decided to publish it.
‘Had been writing’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
29. I had been reading an interesting book, therefore did not pay attention.
‘Had been reading’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
30. She had been typing a rough draft to submit to her publishers.
‘Had been typing’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
31. I had been painting different sceneries every day.
‘Had been painting’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
32. He had been editing the manuscript given to him.
‘Had been editing’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
33. The mother had been phoning her child to ask him where he was.
‘Had been phoning’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
34. Back then, I had been coming down with a cold.
‘Had been coming’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
35. We had been going to school every day without any holidays.
‘Had been going’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
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36. He did not realize that he had been opening the containers incorrectly.
‘Had been opening’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
37. The shopkeeper had been closing his shop when we reached.
‘Had been closing’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
38. The siblings had been annoying each other all day and night.
‘Had been annoying’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
39. The lecturer had been boring the students with his long speeches.
‘Had been boring’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
40. She had been setting the table when someone knocked on her door.
‘Had been setting’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
41. The dad had been preparing his daughter for a big game.
‘Had been preparing’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
42. They had been pursuing an employee from another company to work for them.
‘Had been pursuing’ is a past perfect progressive tense example.
Here are a few more examples that follow the same rules as explained in the above sentences.
43. Our family had been relaxing during the vacation and did absolutely nothing else.
44. The climax of that particular film had been satisfying to say the least.
45. The mother had been worrying for her child’s safety.
46. It had been tiring to work for such a ruthless person.
47. The parents had been embarrassing their kids as a joke, at the party.
48. The workers had been frightening the customers since it was Halloween.
49. They both had been challenging each other’s opinions and ideas for the assignment.
50. He had been charming the woman he was fond of.
51. They had been confusing the kids with so many choices.
52. The two friends had been texting each other day and night.
53. My mom had been calling me on my phone to ask about my dinner plans.
54. I had been exercising for two hours that evening.
55. We had been creating a new film after two years.
56. The child had been bouncing the ball continuously.
57. The baby had been crying all night.
58. My friend and I had been laughing at every little thing that day.
59. The kid had been smiling because his father bought his ice-cream.
60. My friend had been frowning the entire way since she didn’t get to see her favorite actor.
61. The poor dog had been whimpering since he was hurt.
62. The family members had been weeping all afternoon since they lost a loved one.
63. She had been fanning herself with a piece of paper because of the heat.
64. He had been regretting his decision to go abroad for a higher education.
65. My friend had been lying in bed all day as he wasn’t motivated to do anything.
66. The students had been praying for good grades.
67. I had been asking everyone for their opinions on my artwork.
68. The boss had been instructing his to employees complete the task as soon as possible.
69. The young man had been sulking since he did not achieve his goal.
70. The old friends had been talking as though they had met for the first time.
71. She had been processing the bad news before letting us know how she was feeling.
FAQS
What is past progressive simple tense?
A past perfect progressive tense is a verb, simply in the past tense wherein the action took place and continued to take place for a while without any concretely indicated end.
Where to use past perfect progressive tense?
Past perfect progressive tense is to be used in sentences where a past continuous action of a noun at hand is being indicated.
When to use past perfect progressive tense?
Past perfect progressive tense should be used when one wants to showcase an action that started and ended sometime in the past.
Why to use past perfect progressive tense?
Past perfect progressive tense should be used because it helps a reader, writer or a user of the English to figure out the timeline of an action that took place in the past.
How to use past perfect progressive tense?
Past perfect progressive tense can be used when someone wants to showcase a certain continuous action of the past by adding an ‘-ing’ at the end of the root verb.
Past perfect progressive tense structure
The term “had been” + the root verb with the addition of ‘-ing’ at its end formulates a past perfect progressive tense.
Past perfect progressive tense formula
The formula for past perfect progressive tense is “had(n’t) been + (verb + ing)”.
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