THE PAST PERFECT SIMPLE AND CONTINUOUS

The basic function of the past perfect is to express the priority of an action to a
given moment in the past.
He had studied French thoroughly before he went to Paris.
She had read much and could tell beautiful stories.
The past perfect may also serve to express an action which began before a given
past moment and continued into it or up to it. With this meaning it is parallel to the past
perfect continuous.
He had been a teacher for three years before he became a novelist.
But:
He had been teaching in that school for three years before he left it.
In negative sentences the past perfect simpe is preferred to the past perfect
continuous.
They had not met for many years.