You will learn how to:

 Talk about past perfect continuous tense

GUIDE 5
TALKING ABOUT PAST PERFECT
CONTINUOUS

In English, we use the past perfect continuous to express actions in the past,
while stressing a long duration. Often, the action being described was close
in time to another action in the past and was interrupted by the other activity.
It can also be used to express a cause and effect relationship (James is tired
because he had been jogging).
 STRUCTURE

Exercise 1
The plane landed at the airport. What had these passengers been doing before it landed?
Mr. Clark - read a newspaper
Mr. Clark had been reading a newspaper
Mrs. Clark - look out of the window
Had been looking
Julie - play with her teddy bear
Had been playing
Peter - learn how to use his new phone
Had been learning
Mr. Gregson - sleep
Had been drawing
Mrs. Gregson - take photos
Had been sleeping
Melanie - draw pictures
Had been drawing
Fiona and Eve - talk to each other
Had been talking
Ben - listen to Fiona and Eve
Had been listening
 Past Perfect Progressive (Continuous) Tense
Use the information provided below to make sentences with past perfect progressive tense and “ever
since”.
plan - eat - sit - burn - fight - lose - rain - smoke -
wait - give - look - date - work - look forward to

1. When the boys came home, both had black eyes. They had been fighting.

2. Mary’s mouth was all red. She had been eating a strawberry ice cream.

3. When I woke up this morning, the sun was shining, but the ground was all wet.

It had been raining during the night.

4. The firemen finally put out the fire. It had been burning for several hours before they arrived.

5. When I went to Carol’s house yesterday, her hands were covered inmud. She had been working in the
garden for a few hours before I got there.

6. Michael bought a new computer last week because his old one had been giving him trouble for quite
some time.

7. Mr. Jones finally had to close his business. It had been losing money for several years.

8. The police had been looking for the thief for six months before they finally caught him.

9. It is too bad that Cathy had to cancel her trip last week. She had been planning it for such a long time.

10. Larry had been waiting on the corner for Patty for over an hour before she finally arrived.

11. When I went home last night, I could smell cigarettes in the house. Somebody had been smoking before I
got home.

12. Bob had been dating Mary for over two years before she finally broke up with him.

13. Marcia was very disappointed when we had to cancel our lunch date. She had been lookind it for a
long time.
14. I had been fighting in the waiting room for over an hour before the doctor finally arrived.

LISTENING
 1. Listen to five different people talking about their job and do the exercises to practice and improve your
listening skills.

Preparation
Do this exercise before you listen. Write the correct word in the boxes below the picture.

Shop assistant teacher dentist cleaner tour guide doctor pilot nurse

tour guide
Shop assistant dentist pilot

teacher
cleaner Nurse doctor

2. Check your understanding: gap fill

Do this exercise while you listen. Complete the gaps with a word from the box.

Pilot dentist shop assistant tour guide nurse

1. Speaker A works as a shop assistan.

2. Speaker B works as a tour guide

3. Speaker C works as a dentist.

4. Speaker D works as a pilot.

5. Speaker E works as a nurse.

3. Check your understanding: Multiple choice

Does this exercise while you listen? Circle the best answer for these questions.
1. Does speaker A enjoy his job?
a) Yes.
b) Sometimes.
c) No.

2. When does speaker A work?

a) When he is at university
b) Weekends
c) Sumer holidays

3. When does speaker B work?

a) Weekdays
b) Weekends and holidays
c) Summer holidays

4. What does speaker B say tourist love doing?

a) Visiting universities
b) Taking a boat trip
c) Swimming in the river

5. Does speaker C like his job?

a) Yes.
b) Sometimes.
c) No.

6. What does speaker D say is difficult about being a pilot?

a) Travelling to many countries
b) Learning many languages
c) Flying planes in bad weather

7. What does speaker D say is the best thing about his job?
a) Visiting different places
b) Meeting different people
c) The different weather

8. What does speaker E not like about her job?

a) The doctors
b) The sick people
c) The uniform